Resources
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Critical Access Hospital in Utah Implements Plan to Reduce Readmissions
As part of the HQIC program, Blue Mountain Hospital, an 11-bed critical access hospital located in Blanding, UT, reviewed their data to establish improvement priorities. The compliance program manager, Cari Spillman, MBAHM, CHCO, CIC, chose to work on reducing readmissions because of the impact on patients and the surrounding community of Blanding. Several gaps in […]
Salina Surgical Hospital (KS) Improves Pain Management and Decreases Opioid Use
As part of the HQIC program, Salina Surgical Hospital (SSH), a 16-bed hospital located in Salina, KS, identified that Opioid Reduction would be a meaningful project for their group since a large portion of the procedures performed in their facility were Total Joint surgeries. This provided a population of patients to work toward improved opioid […]