Case Studies
The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association produces case studies on its member organizations across a wide range of health-care topics.
The problem faced by the health system was the lack of a coordinated approach for the review and approval of order sets, including standing orders and protocols, across the division's four community hospitals. They were not consistently taken through formal review, and there was wide…
Because the medical center's lost charge capture related to IV injection and infusions totaled $80,000 per month, it established a goal of improving the process of IV injection and infusion charge entry. It educated its nursing staff and implemented a monitoring and tracking process through the…
While the implementation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' venous thromboembolism (VTE) measure group gave the hospital an incentive to improve its recognition and prophylactic treatment of VTEs, its biggest motivation came from one of its own employees who acquired the ailment…
Chronic wounds are a growing problem in the United States. Based on evidence-based research of relevant quality wound measures and utilizing clinical practice guidelines, the hospital's wound clinic implemented process improvement initiatives to target specific care-based management techniques that…
The facility partnered with local emergency medical services (EMS) providers to improve early recognition of signs and symptoms of a stroke and reduce delays in diagnosis. EMS workers were provided training and a tool to assess a stroke patient in the emergent prehospital setting. Using this tool,…
In 2008, the health system's program to contact discharged emergency department (ED) and immediate care (IC) patients by telephone was recognized as a best practice by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Three years ago, the health system further innovated by implementing an electronic…
Restraint documentation was a challenge at the hospital for multiple reasons, including the implementation of a new computer system in 2013. Staff were trying to familiarize themselves with the new workflows, while taking care of patients and attempting to comply with regulatory agencies. One year…
This health system's employee influenza vaccination policy compliance rate was less than 70 percent, putting it below the 75.2 percent national average for health care workers in 2013-2014. The system set a goal of achieving 90 percent compliance with its mandatory influenza vaccine policy for…
In response to high readmission rates coming from the health system's skilled nursing facility (SNFs) partners, it instituted a new comprehensive transition of care (TOC) model. The transition coach (TC) acts as a liaison between the hospital system and SNFs to prevent readmissions, facilitate…
Today more than ever, it is important to focus on reducing unnecessary testing and unneeded emergency department (ED) visits to manage costs. Well-established probability scoring systems for many disease states and hospital electronic medical record systems can be used to help create hospitalwide…