11 New York City Hospitals begin publicly releasing data on infection and death rates. Study explores whether teaching quality improvement is effective for clinicians. Caution advised when promoting hospital based on awards and rankings.
11 New York City Hospitals begin publicly releasing data on infection and death rates. Study explores whether teaching quality improvement is effective for clinicians. Caution advised when promoting hospital based on awards and rankings.
11 New York City Hospitals begin publicly releasing data on infection and death rates. Study explores whether teaching quality improvement is effective for clinicians. Caution advised when promoting hospital based on awards and rankings.
Brought to you by Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Health Policy
Volume II, Number 33
New York City Hospitals Publicly Reporting Hospital Data
On September 7th, the 11 New York City Hospitals began publicly releasing data on infection and death rates. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation were behind these efforts. This idea grew out of concern about deadly, preventable and costly hospital-acquired infections that have been hitting the headlines recently. This data is publicly available at www.nyc.gov/hhc and allows the overall death rate, the rate of deaths after heart attacks, preventable bloodstream infections and pneumonia cases, among other measures to be viewed for the 11 public hospitals which treat over 1.3 million individuals per year. By making this data available, the hospital corporation hopes to reduce errors. (New York Times, 9/7/07) Effectiveness of Teaching Quality Improvement A study released this week in JAMA explored the question of whether teaching quality improvement is effective for clinicians. While accreditation standards mandate that quality improvement principles be integrated into the curricula of medical trainees, the benefits are unclear. The study was based on an extensive literature search to determine the relationship between clinical outcomes and the learning principles used. The 39 studies included in the analysis utilized various approaches including team-based projects and didactic instruction combined with clinical experiences. Four of the studies analyzed as part of this project analyzed both educational and clinical outcomes. Overall, the study showed improvement in learners' knowledge or confidence to perform QI but no true improvement in clinical outcomes. (JAMA, 9/5/07) If It Looks Like Quality Is It Quality? Many hospitals and healthcare systems advertise the awards they receive, especially when it comes to quality. You can’t always believe the billboard you see when driving down the road that Hospital A outperforms Hospital B. Proceed with caution when promoting your hospital based on awards and rankings, says Anthony Cirillo, president of Fast Forward Strategic Planning and Marketing Consulting. "Any hospital using these as part of their marketing mix can have it come back to bite them." He also points out that data used for quality rankings is constantly changing; therefore, it is often outdated by the time it is used for a marketing campaign. (HealthLeaders, 9/5/07) Patients and Families Now Using Rapid Response Teams A few years ago the Institute for Healthcare Improvement launched a campaign entitled 100,000 lives. One of the measures outlined in that campaign was the use of Rapid Response Teams (RRT) which are designed to identify patients before they crash, or "code," in respiratory or cardiac distress. A hospital in Pittsburgh has brought the concept of Rapid Response Teams not only to the medical staff, but also to the patients and their families. This concept relies on the idea that the family knows the patient better than anyone and should be able to activate the RRT if something does not seem right. There are currently about 20 hospitals in the United States allowing non-clinicians to activate the system. (Washington Post, 9/4/07)
Any questions regarding this newsletter can be directed
to Valerie Pracilio at valerie.pracilio@jefferson.edu or Bettina Berman bettina.berman@jefferson.edu.