Through the months of February and March, residents provided preliminary answers to some good questions at each Monday’s noon conference. Can we convince more Veterans to get their pneumococcal vaccinations? Or improve lung cancer screening in the primary care setting? Can we increase infection prevention by getting providers to go “bare below the elbow”? How […]
Despite the 50 times she’s been intubated and the two times she came close to death, Alison Clay, MD, FCCP, AISF, Assistant Dean for Clinical Education at Duke University School of Medicine, says the worst side effect from her time in the intensive care unit (ICU) is mistrust in the healthcare system. During a Grand […]
For seven years now, multiple units within University of Iowa Health Care have supported a yearly celebration and presentation of its culture of patient safety and quality improvement into a day-long symposium. In recent years, Quality and Safety Symposium (QSS) organizers have worked to reach beyond the borders of the hospital toward other colleges at […]
An excessive amount of sugar in a person’s bloodstream, or hyperglycemia, occurs most often in people with diabetes. When someone experiencing hyperglycemia has surgery, the chances of infection and other risks are also increased. However, a recent study by a team of University of Iowa Health Care specialists from eight different departments found that insulin treatments […]
Article: Inpatient Fluoroquinolone Stewardship Improves the Quantity and Quality of Fluoroquinolone-prescribing at Hospital Discharge: A Retrospective Analysis among 122 Veterans Health Administration Hospitals Authors: Hiroyuki Suzuki, MD, Eli N Perencevich, MD, MS, Bruce Alexander, PharmD, Brice E Beck, MA, Michihiko Goto, MD, MSCI, Brian C Lund, PharmD, Rajeshwari Nair, MBBS, PhD, Daniel J Livorsi, MD, […]
The Center for Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) renewed its five-year status as a Center of Innovation (COIN) within the VA Health Services Research & Development (HSRD) in late 2018. A multidisciplinary and nimble band of researchers, educators, and clinicians, CADRE investigators are transforming the way health care is delivered, improving quality and […]
For the past three years our Internal Medicine residents have worked in teams on quality improvement (QI) projects in their continuity clinics. This work has led to sustainable improvements like new staffing models or the ability of patients to list a resident as their primary care physician at Iowa River Landing (IRL). A computerized patient […]
At April’s Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) national meeting in Washington, DC, second-year resident Dr. Ruth Fernandez Ruiz presented her Quality Improvement team’s project. The team developed a Resident Orientation Manual to improve competency and efficiency using the electronic medical record for their continuity clinic patients at the VA. Congratulations to Dr. Fernandez Ruiz […]
University of Iowa Healthcare hosted its 4th Annual Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Symposium on April 6 and 7, 2016. The goal of this conference was to promote a culture of innovation in quality and safety and improve performance in healthcare. This inter-professional event allowed attendees and participants to share ideas, strategies, resources, and successes […]