May 2014 - In This Issue

What's New?

Upcoming Events

 

We are attending and/or exhibiting at the following conferences. We hope to see you there!

• May 18-21: Patient Experience: Empathy and Innovation Summit (Cleveland Clinic)
• May 27-30: MUSE International Conference (Dallas, TX)
• June 2-4: Bermuda Captive Conference (Bermuda)

New Courses

• Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Setting
• 7 Simple Strategies to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
• Information [Cyber] Security Tips for Healthcare Professionals
• Pediatric Seconds-to-Minutes Emergencies Part 2
• Child Abuse: Early Detection & Recognition in the Emergency Department 

5 Key Facts About Hospital Readmissions

 

1) Approximately 20% of discharged Medicare patients are re-hospitalized within 30 days, and 34% are readmitted within 90 days.*

 

2)  About half of Medicare patients discharged with a medical condition had no evidence of a physician office visit between discharge and readmission.*

 

3)  Since October 2012, the "Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program" has required CMS to reduce financial reimbursements to hospitals with excessive 30-day readmission rates for three specific conditions: Pneumonia, Heart Failure, and Acute Myocardial Infarction.**

 

4)  Beginning in 2015 the list of diagnoses subject to reimbursement penalties will be expanded to include: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Total Hip Arthroplasty, and Total Knee Arthroplasty.**

 

5)  Although Medicare Beneficiary readmissions may cost over $15 billion per year, less than one third of hospitals in the country are following specific strategies to reduce re-hospitalizations.***

 

*Jencks, S.F., et al. "Rehospitalizations among Patients in the Medicare Fee-for-

Service Program." New England Journal of Medicine, 2009. 360(14), 1418-1428. http://senticare.com/articles/id10017.pdf

 

**CMS.gov "Readmissions Reduction Program" Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Website http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/Readmissions-Reduction-Program.html

 

***Bradley, E.H., Curry, L, Horwitz, L et al., "Hospital Strategies Associated with 30-Day Readmission Rates for Patients with Heart Failure," Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, July 2013 6(4):444-50. 

 http://circoutcomes.ahajournals.org/content/6/4/444.full 

 

Featured Courses:

• Handoffs, Transitions & Discharges: Key Moments in Patient Care
• 7 Strategies to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
• Communication Strategies to Improve Patient Safety in High-Risk Situations
• 11 Simple Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors
• Technology Revolution: Improving Patient Safety, Reducing Liability
• Essentials of Patient Safety
• Prevention of Medical Errors
• Information [Cyber] Security Tips for Healthcare Professionals - coming soon!

 

Follow Arnie 

Website: www.drmackles.com

Follow this topic: RSQ_Education 

Simulation Training: The Change Agent

I found an interesting article to share with you; it is a study by Crofts, in England, who is a well-known shoulder dystocia researcher. She showed in a 2008 randomized, controlled study that:

1. Doing simulation training right on the hospital unit was just as effective as training in a multi-hospital simulation center and was cheaper and more efficient, and;
2. Extra didactic "team training" with the clinical training did not improve the efficiency of team work during simulation drills.

TSG's simulation program is on site at hospitals, and while covering team training and communication, stresses clinical skills over the "softer" aspects of training. This article offers literature-based support for the approach that TSG and I have partnered to create.

 

SOURCE: Ellis D, Crofts J, Hunt L, et al. Hospital, simulation center, and teamwork training for eclampsia management. Obstet Gynecol 2008;111:723-31.

 

Read Dr. Lerner's article in the March issue of OBG Management, "Eight tools of improving obstetric patient safety and unit performance" in which he asks:

 

"How then can obstetrics professionals seek to eradicate or at least decrease the number of medical errors that occur during the provision of maternity care?" 

 

And answers:

 

"To accomplish this, we must address the core issues at the root of these medical errors. Solutions must be implemented to 1) simplify the often unnecessary complexity of delivering medical care and 2) create systems and tools that minimize errors and catch those that do occur before they can cause harm.

 

Yet, how is this to be accomplished? In this article, I describe eight tools developed over time by clinicians who have worked in the field of obstetric patient safety. These tools provide concrete starting points for the improvement of clinical outcomes in obstetrics."

 

 

 

  

• Disclosure & Apology: Fundamentals
• Disclosure & Apology: Just-In-Time Trainer

• Gastrointestinal Decontamination in Toxic Ingestions 
• Opiate Agonists & Antagonists

The Sullivan Group is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Some continuing education activities were approved by the Emergency Nurses Association, an accredited approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

The details of the CME and/or CE for all TSG activities can be found here.