Case Studies
The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association produces case studies on its member organizations across a wide range of health-care topics.
The hospital applied for the Joint Commission certification as a Primary Stroke Center. In order to achieve certification, performance data was collected and analyzed. An opportunity for improvement in partial thromboplastin time results available to clinicians in 45 minutes was identified. The…
Many Medicare patients with life-limiting illnesses had no documented advanced directive while in the ICU. The hospital's aim is to address their physical, emotional and social needs by having a plan of care goal conversation in order to establish a written advanced directive. This project…
During 2011, the hospital joined the IHA Project Re-Engineering Discharge (RED) collaborative to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions. A Six Sigma level of 1.9 for the discharge process and medication reconciliation process showed that there was a lot of deviation. Process maps, swim-lane…
A Rural Hospital's Push to Move Patient Satisfaction From Better to Best in the Emergency Department
The patient experience as measured by patient satisfaction scores is an organizational goal. In the emergency department, staff was challenged to move patient satisfaction scores from the 70th to the 90th percentile rank.
Only 20 percent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients at the hospital were properly diagnosed and staged with spirometry. Because of this, care was not evidence based, and there was poor coordination between sites of care. The team developed a COPD program spanning the continuum of…
Care for people with multiple chronic health conditions is often fragmented, resulting in increased use of high-cost services, without necessarily achieving better outcomes. Read how Ellis Medicine is connecting the dots for patients. This case study is part of the Healthcare Association of New…
Some patients have difficulty effectively managing their medications because they don't fully understand the importance of proper dosage, when to take their medication and how drugs interact. Read how Ellenville Regional Hospital implemented safety checks that benefit its patients. This case…
Since 2010, the academic medical center has been supporting a program to reduce 30-day all cause readmission rates by targeting efforts on a subset of patient populations each year.
A gap analysis was conducted. Key themes emerged in this analysis such as inadequate preparation for self-management of medical conditions and gaps/concerns acorss the continuum including: communication, medication reconciliation, and variations in knowledge sets of caregivers.
Three patient navigators are used to advocate on behalf of women with abnormal breast findings on mammograms. The main goals of the program are to remove barriers to making appointments (e.g. transportation), not knowing the next steps in care, and financial issues. In addition, navigators are…