Case Studies
The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association produces case studies on its member organizations across a wide range of health-care topics.
As part of Blueprint for Health (a statewide, public-private initiative authorized by the Vermont legislature), the largely rural St. Johnsbury health service area supports its six patient-centered medical home practices via a multidisciplinary team that provides preventive, chronic disease and…
Phase I consisted of developing and implementing protocols for cases presenting to the emergency department within 30 days of hospital discharge. Interventions included identifying potential readmissions during ED triage and paging key team members with every potential readmission. The teams and…
The all-cause, 30-day readmission rates for the hospital are higher than both the state and national average for all three quality indicators (AMI, CHF and community-acquired pneumonia). In January 2011, the hospital started a new CQI+ team to implement the Illinois Hospital Association Project Re…
To align the hospital ministry with the needs of the community and to reduce avoidable health care costs, a multifaceted approach to reducing the number of potentially avoidable hospital readmissions was developed for the heart failure population. This approach included: a focus on in-hospital…
Noting an upward trend in central line-associated blood stream infections, the hospital joined the Illinois Hospital Association Patient Safety Collaborative to 'Stop BSI.' The infection control committee established a goal to decrease CLABSI to below the National Healthcare Safety Network pooled…
Using a sequential rapid cycle improvement process to implement evidence-based practices for central line blood stream infection prevention, the hospital reduced its critical care central line blood stream infection rate from 14.6 per 1,000 device days in 2004 to zero for the past 57 months. A…
SMH was an early participant in the Premier Quest Collaborative designed to improve quality, efficiency, safety and transparency. By benchmarking with organizations whose results were better than theirs, SMH was able to make rapid cycle improvements that resulted in improved outcomes. SMH was able…
Human resources and the nursing leadership team worked together using a PDCA for rapid cycle improvement to decrease turnover of registered nurses by refining the interview process and improving their orientation. This project enhances the patient experience of care by providing continuity of…
Data from the AHRQ Safety Culture Survey indicated the need to improve mechanisms for incident capture, analysis, prioritization and action. Based on Lean/Six Sigma methodology, the defect huddle was designed. It is a weekly 30 minute multidisciplinary team meeting where safety events, including…
A multidisciplinary committee found that despite an overall sepsis mortality rate similar to expected, there was significant variation in the care these patients received. Efforts to reduce mortality focused on sepsis recognition and treatment by using an ED protocol on appropriate fluid and…