March 4, 2011
Emergency admissions to hospital are costly to the NHS and also cause disruption to planned health care. Considerable efforts have been made within the health service to reduce emergency admissions, but few primary care trusts have been successful, with some primary care trusts recording an increase.
In order to successfully reduce avoidable emergency admissions, we need to fully understand which interventions are the most effective. The King’s Fund commissioned this review of research evidence to establish which interventions work in avoiding emergency or unplanned hospital admissions.
This paper aims to address the following questions:
- What interventions work in reducing avoidable admissions?
- Who is at risk, and how do we identify them?
- Which admissions are potentially avoidable?
Which interventions work in:
- primary care
- social care
- emergency care
- discharge from hospital.
The paper concludes that policy-makers, providers and commissioners can introduce a number of changes that have proved to be effective in reducing admissions and includes recommendations for all of these groups, emphasising the importance of using evidence-based interventions.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Evidence-based, Indicators, Policy, Quality assessment, Quality control, Quality improvement | No Comments
February 22, 2011
In response to growing interest from the hospital community in better understanding and improving the experience of patients and their families during hospitalization, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) conducted an in-depth review of the research, studied exemplar organizations, and interviewed experts in the field. Our aim was to identify the primary and secondary drivers of exceptional patient and family inpatient hospital experience (defined as care that is patient centered, safe, effective, timely, efficient, and equitable), as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey’s “willingness to recommend” the hospital.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Hospitals, Indicators, Patient satisfaction, Quality assessment, Quality improvement | 1 Comment
February 4, 2011
McKinsey Quarterly. (2010). “Frontline lessons in health care transformation: An interview with Brendan Drumm, MD.” Retrieved from https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Health_Care/Frontline_lessons_in_health_care_transformation_An_interview_with_Brendan_Drumm_MD_2692. Ireland’s HSE has improved care delivery significantly. Waiting lists have declined sharply. More patients have access to high-quality primary care. Hospital quality and safety have improved. In this interview, Brendan Drumm, the HSE’s first CEO, speaks frankly […]
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Efficiency, Indicators, Program evaluation, Quality assessment | No Comments
February 3, 2011
This 2010 white paper from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement presents a synopsis of the results of the eight year Pursuing Perfection Initiative. The goal of the initiative was to determine how healthcare organizations could improve their operations in order to have more efficacious and efficient healthcare systems.
In order to achieve this, the 13 organisations from US and Europe “designed, tested, and implemented changes in strategy, structure, and key processes, supported by IHI faculty and with frequent contact with each other in a collaborative learning model.” The study ended with all participants demonstrating significant improvements in one or more areas of operations, while also learning about the critical factors of optimal healthcare performance.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Efficiency, Evidence-based, Health care reform, Health technology, Hospital administration, Indicators, Patient-centered care, Program evaluation, Quality assessment | No Comments
January 10, 2011
The authors of this paper conducted a detailed study of hospital performance over a four year period. Using difference-in-differences regression analysis they assessed improvement in hospital operations in myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia care. Results indicated that use of electronic health records can have a positive, negative, or null effect on hospital operations. Researchers suggest that hospitals need to employ a set of criterion for electronic health record measurement, functionality, and use.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with e-health, Efficiency, Health technology, Hospital administration, Information technology, Program evaluation, Quality assessment, Safety | 1 Comment
December 22, 2010
This report describes an environmental scan that was completed in May 2009 of primary care and public health in the province of British Columbia (BC) as one of a series of steps in a larger program of research: Strengthen- ing Primary Health Care through Primary Care and Public Health Collaboration Study (Strengthening PHC Study). It is one of three scans being completed for provincial health care systems, which include: British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The purpose of the environ- mental scans is to provide current information about the provincial context of primary care and public health that may be contributing, either positively or negatively, towards integration and collaboration between these two health sectors.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Canada, Decision making, Efficiency, Health care reform, Quality assessment | No Comments
November 23, 2010
Saskatchewan’s Health Quality Council (HQC) was launched in 2003 with a mandate to not only measure and report on healthcare but also work with a range of partners to improve the province’s health system. In late 2007, HQC’s board decided it was time for Saskatchewan to reinvent its healthcare system, using the highest-performing systems in the world as its model. And in 2008, HQC launched Accelerating Excellence, a multi-level program to rethink, redesign and renew healthcare.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Benchmarking, Canada, Health technology, Quality assessment, Quality control, Quality of care | No Comments
November 18, 2010
The attention for Health Systems and Health Systems Strengthening has re-emerged in the frontlines of global debate since several years. This document aims to clarify the authors’ ideas and visions on HS development by presenting a framework for description and analysis. The book outlines a framework that can be used by anybody wishing to analyze and strengthen HSs and it elaborates a vision for discussion.
Posted in READ Portal, Working Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Indicators, Quality assessment | No Comments
November 9, 2010
This article aims to describe the development of measurable indicators on the basis of characteristics (called dimensions and features) of primary care systems identified in the literature. This set of indicators and its underlying structure of dimensions and features will be referred to as the Primary Care Monitoring System (in short: PC Monitor). The PC Monitor is meant to produce comparable information of the variation of primary care systems across Europe. The study is part of the EC funded project Primary Health Care Activity Monitor for Europe (PHAMEU), that aims to describe and compare primary care systems in 31 European countries [18].
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Access to care, Benchmarking, Efficiency, Policy, Primary health care, Quality assessment, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
November 8, 2010
Canada lags international peers in its uptake of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in the health system. A collaborative leadership is needed to overcome existing barriers to ICT implementation and improve health system performance.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Decision making, Efficiency, Health planning, Hospital administration, Information technology, Quality assessment | No Comments
