Total Quality Management

Clinical guidelines are statements that have been systematically developed and which aim to assist clinicians in making decisions about treatment for specific conditions, and promote best practice. They are linked to evidence and are meant to facilitate good medical practice.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about whether federally funded complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research is translating into clinical practice. We sought to describe the awareness of CAM clinical trials, the ability to interpret research results, the acceptance of research evidence, and the predictors of trial awareness among US clinicians. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional mailed survey of 2400 practicing US acupuncturists, naturopaths, internists, and rheumatologists. RESULTS: A total of 1561 clinicians (65%) responded.

Clinical guidelines are statements that have been systematically developed and which aim to assist clinicians in making decisions about treatment for specific conditions, and promote best practice. They are linked to evidence and are meant to facilitate good medical practice.

This article describes a knowledge transfer process that was developed by Catholic Health East (CHE), headquartered in Newtown Square, PA, and that focuses upon one indicator of care, physical restraint use, in the skilled nursing/long-term care setting. The values-based process focuses on preserving residents' rights and using comparative data sharing as the basis for identifying opportunities for improvement. Further, it builds upon a collaborative cyclical model employed by all the CHE System's freestanding and hospital-based long-term care facilities.

Sr. Mary Jean Ryan, Franciscan Sister of Mary, is president/chief executive officer of SSM Health Care (SSMHC), one of the largest Catholic healthcare systems in the United States, with 23,000 employees and 5,000 affiliated physicians serving in 21 hospitals and 3 nursing homes. This year SSMHC became the first healthcare recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. During her 16-year tenure, Sr. Mary Jean has emphasized three key themes: preservation of the earth's resources, valuing ethnic and gender diversity, and commitment to continuous quality improvement (CQI).

SSM Health Care last year won the nation's most prestigious award for business quality. How it did so provides valuable lessons for all hospitals striving for excellence.

SSM Health Care (SSMHC), the first healthcare recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, has been cited by both Baldrige and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as having a culture of continuous quality improvement (CQI). SSM Health Care began to implement CQI systemwide in 1990. CQI provided the foundation for other strategies that served to further weave quality improvement into the fabric of the organization's culture.

Bon Secours Health System's South Division launched a multitude of performance-improvement projects in 2004 even though it boasted a 9% margin. Why? Officials at the Catholic healthcare system wanted to increase the amount of money available for its nation-wide charitable commitments as well as to invest in capital projects critical to its mission.

The Franciscan Health System has designed a new employee orientation program that is both interactive and thought-provoking. The program has transitioned from a predominantly lecture-based format to one that consists of group discussion, role playing, lunch with senior leaders in the organization, and the utilization of adult learning principles. This article describes the shortcomings of the previous program, gaps identified in the needs assessment, and performance improvement methodology used to enhance the program.

This article describes a knowledge-transfer process developed by Catholic Health East (CHE), headquartered in Newtown Square, PA, and focuses on improving resident safety in the skilled nursing or long-term care setting. How the health system customized and implemented an electronic medical event database to identify opportunities for improvement to prevent future occurrences of adverse events is outlined.