Articles
March 4, 2024
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Alabama Hospital Focuses on Infection Prevention to Decrease C. difficile Infections
Baptist Medical Center South is a licensed 492-bed hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. As an enrolled hospital in Alliant Health’s Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC) program, the hospital teams work to improve quality and patient safety, including infection prevention. Opportunity for improvement was identified based on data, reviews, and specimen testing: Infection Prevention found the standardized […]
February 28, 2024
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Crisp Regional Medical Center’s Health Equity Approach to Decreasing Readmissions
During the annual Georgia Hospital Association Patient Safety and Quality Summit, hospitals submit quality improvement projects for the chance to earn recognition and a GHA Patient Safety and Quality Award, which highlights the hospitals’ quality journey from the previous year. Recognizing that hospital readmissions create significant expenses for health care organizations, Crisp Regional Medical Center’s […]
January 25, 2024
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Physician Engagement at Alabama Hospital is Key to Reducing Sepsis Mortality
In early 2023, the quality department at DeKalb Regional Medical Center (DRMC) – a 134-bed, full-service hospital in Fort Payne, Alabama–selected sepsis mortality as a performance improvement project. Although the sepsis bundle compliance rates were quite good as compared to the sepsis mortality rates, the team was curious about why their sepsis bundle compliance outperformed […]
December 6, 2023
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Contract Pharmacy Improves Antibiotic Stewardship in a Rural Community
An increased focus on antibiotic stewardship (ABS) began for Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in WaKeeney, Kansas, about two years ago, shortly after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) released a statewide heat map showing the prevalence of E. coli resistance. This report included a ratio of antibiotic usage, […]
December 6, 2023
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Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship: #3 Pharmacy Expertise and #4 Action
In November 2022, the CDC released Priorities for Hospital Core Element Implementation (Priorities) as supplemental guidance to help enhance the quality and impact of existing ASPs. The Priorities Table highlights highly effective implementation approaches and is supported by evidence and stewardship experts. Like the Hospital Core Elements, the uptake of the Priorities is tracked and reported […]
September 22, 2023
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Intermountain Health: Opioid Stewardship Health System Perspective
Intermountain Health reduced the number of opioid tablets prescribed to patients in acute pain by 3.8 million in 2018 and nearly 13 million cumulatively through June of 2023, reducing the risk of opioid dependency and misuse in Utah. In the early 2000s, the opioid epidemic hit the state of Utah and saw opioid overdose deaths […]
September 22, 2023
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Oregon Hospital Improves Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
Lake Health District Hospital, a 24-bed critical access hospital in Lakeview, Oregon, implemented steps to improve the safe use of opioids in their facility. Alena Acklin, process and quality improvement coordinator, chose to focus on the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) as an important step to improve opioid prescribing practices. As part of this work, […]
August 11, 2023
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Mobile Infirmary in Alabama Improves Sepsis Bundle Compliance and Reduces Sepsis Mortality
Mobile Infirmary in Mobile, Alabama, is the largest non-governmental hospital in Alabama, with 669 licensed beds and 14 beds at Saraland Freestanding Emergency Department. In early 2016, a multidisciplinary committee was initiated to focus on the sepsis core measure and compliance after identifying the need for improvement. The committee approved nurse/pharmacy/ provider education, order sets, and […]
August 3, 2023
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Critical Access Hospital in Utah Focuses on Assessment of Social Determinants of Health to Reduce Readmissions
Like many hospitals, Kane County Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital located in Kanab, UT experienced an increase in patient readmissions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Nursing Officer Julia Sbragia, DNP, CNS, RN, was hired in 2022 and upon the first meeting with the Alliant HQIC partner, she reviewed the data and established the hospital’s […]