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Patient-centered care is best achieved when the care team understands every moment of the patient and family experience in their journeys through a health care system – from parking in the hospital garage to being treated in the intensive care unit. This is the core value of a novel quality improvement program implemented at a leading U.S. medical center and presented today at the National Quality Summit, sponsored by the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

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Primary-care physicians play a pivotal role in assuring that patients who require specialized care are transitioned properly from one clinical environment to another to help lower the risks for adverse events and repeat hospitalizations, according to a health quality management expert who spoke today at the National Quality Summit sponsored by the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

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Regardless of one’s views on the Affordable Care Act, it has succeeded in placing long-overdue attention on improving management of patient transitions from one care setting to another, according to a leading health care policy analyst speaking today at the National Quality Summit, sponsored by the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

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The National Healthcare Quality Association (NAHQ, www.nahq.org) will host its first-ever National Quality Summit, April 23-4, in Philadelphia. Leading experts in healthcare quality management will cover an increasingly significant concern – how to assure favorable outcomes when transitioning patients from one clinical environment to another or to the home.

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When hospitals adopt proactive, enhanced care transition interventions to assure that family caregivers are well prepared when patients are discharged, the incidence of adverse outcomes due to communication lapses with clinicians or medication mistakes can be reduced significantly, according to new research published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ).

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The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) today announced three new members of its Board of Directors. They are Michael Greer RN, MHA, CPHQ, CJCP, Carrie Donovan, MSA, CPHQ, and Carole S. Pulaski, RN, BSN, MSA, CPHQ.

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The current issue of the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ) is devoted entirely to an increasingly significant concern in healthcare quality management – how to assure favorable outcomes when transitioning patients from one clinical environment to another or to the home.

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National Healthcare Quality Week is sponsored by the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ). This annual national recognition event brings attention to the profession of healthcare quality and celebrates the work of the individual healthcare quality management professionals who work diligently to enhance the quality of care and optimize patient safety.

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A study published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality reports that many huge malpractice awards can be prevented by targeted interventions by health care provider organizations to reduce patient safety risks, such as reducing diagnosis errors.

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Sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and new research published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ) shows that educating clinicians about expediting diagnosis and administration of antibiotics can reduce sepsis patient mortality and lower hospital costs.

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Adoption of hourly rounds schedules for nurses working in acute care hospitals may improve patient safety and overall satisfaction with care provided, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the peer reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ, www.nahq.org).

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The editorial board for the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ) has recognized the publication’s top articles since 2011, written by leading-edge authors and experts in the field of healthcare quality. JHQ is the peer-reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ, www.nahq.org).

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In the past decade, the incidence and severity of hospital acquired Clostridium difficile (CDI) infections has increased dramatically in the United States. Research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ), however, demonstrates that a collaborative multi-hospital model using standardized clinical infection and environmental cleaning programs can be effective in controlling the spread of this pathogen.

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Despite widespread public and professional attention devoted to medical errors and ways to prevent them, few efforts have focused on addressing a leading cause of errors -- communication problems involving patients with limited proficiency in English. A new study reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ) assessed high-risk clinical situations where medical errors are most likely to occur among limited English proficiency patients and when consequences could be severe.

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A new study published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ) revealed that nursing resources vary significantly across different types of hospitals that care for children, and this has significant implications for quality and safety in pediatric medical care. JHQ is the peer-reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality, www.nahq.org.

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People with disabilities have greater risk for experiencing healthcare disparities and differences in diagnoses, treatments and outcomes, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ). The journal is the peer-reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ, www.nahq.org).

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Early identification of sepsis cases in the emergency department using a symptoms-based screening tool significantly decreased the time interval for administering life-saving antibiotic treatment, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the peer reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ, www.nahq.org).

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Heart failure accounts for 6.5 million hospital days a year, and a new study reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality showed that Medicaid patients and those with comorbid illnesses have longer lengths of stay for treatment of heart failure.

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The board convened in November at the NAHQ office in Chicago where new members attended orientation, departing members were acknowledged for their service, and the group set priorities for 2014.

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Removing restrictions on hospital visiting hours not only allows patients to spend more time with family and friends, it can enhance outcomes by lowering patient anxiety levels and feelings of social isolation, according to a study reported in the Journal of Healthcare Quality.

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Patient assessment of clinical services quality was shown to be an independent predictor of survival for colorectal cancer patients in a study recently published in the Journal of Healthcare Quality.

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Satisfaction expressed by day-surgery patients can be enhanced by improving the quality of information they receive and also help assure successful post-operative recovery without the need for outpatient follow-up, according to research reported in the Journal of Healthcare Quality.

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The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Stephanie E. Mercado, CAE to be the organization’s new executive director, succeeding Stacy Sochacki who has retired from NAHQ service.

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Individual patient outcomes and overall community health can be enhanced and improved when medical providers partner with patients and families in the design and delivery of health care services, according to a leading patient advocate in her keynote address at the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ, www.nahq.org) annual educational conference.

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Transformation in U.S. health care delivery systems and associated quality measurements in the wake of reforms implemented by Affordable Care Act might be most impactful within community health centers (CHC). Many are shifting from an acute care, clinic-visit model toward more holistic, population-based care, according to the chief executive of a large health center caring for underserved populations in his keynote remarks to the annual conference of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ).

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Several studies have shown that hospitalized patients still have unacceptably high rates of harm and injury due in part to limited access for quality staff to obtain primary care data from electronic medical records. As a result, hospital incident reports do not capture most harm that occurs in hospitals. A new study published in the September special issue “Emerging Models of Care and Payment Delivery” of the Journal for Healthcare Quality showed that using administrative data, such as discharge abstracts, can gauge the quality of care and identify opportunities for improvement.

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Regular reminders for health care providers and patients to schedule preventative health screening tests and procedures resulted in improved provider performance in ordering overdue preventative screening for primary care patients, according to research published in the September special issue “Emerging Models of Care and Payment Delivery” of the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the peer-reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), www.nahq.org.

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For breast cancer screening, there are more clinical practice guidelines available to physicians than for any other medical procedure. A new study in the Journal for Healthcare Quality reports that when different clinical guidelines exist, physicians choose recommendations from multiple, sometimes conflicting, sources.

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A comprehensive infection control program combined with an active surveillance process significantly reduced the incidence of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections in a long-term acute care hospital, according to a study published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

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When hospital senior management supports the creation and maintenance of a strong safety culture, patient outcomes improve, staff productivity increases, and there is less clinical employee turnover, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

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For too long, progress in preventing medication errors and other mistakes that compromise patient safety in healthcare facilities has been unacceptably slow and patients in the majority of U.S. hospitals may not be much safer today than they were 10 years ago, according to an editorial published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ).

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The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) announces the release of the complete third edition of their respected foundational publication Q Solutions: Essential Resources for the Healthcare Quality Professional. The new text expands and reinforces the foundational knowledge for healthcare quality and patient safety professionals working across the care continuum.

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The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), www.nahq.org, announced today that Robert J. Rosati, Ph.D. has been appointed associate editor of the Journal for Healthcare Quality (JHQ), NAHQ’s peer-reviewed journal. Nine new editorial board members also were announced by NAHQ.

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As part of a comprehensive quality and patient safety program, a major national hospital network reported in the Journal of Healthcare Quality (JHQ) that more than 90 percent of its clinical personnel in the last three years received seasonal influenza vaccinations to help protect patients and co-workers from flu-transmission risk.