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July 2008
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Election Results: 2009 NAHQ Board of Directors
The elections for the 2009 NAHQ Board of Directors are complete. The officers are
- President-Elect: Linda Scribner
- Secretary-Treasurer: Lee Hamilton
- Professional Development Director: Nancy Terwoord
- Special Interest Groups Director: Desila Rosetti
NAHQ Exhibits at HFMA Annual Meeting
Cathy Munn, MPH RHIA CPHQ, NAHQ president-elect
As a part of NAHQ’s initiative to increase knowledge of healthcare quality on the part of chief officers in healthcare institutions and expand the role of the quality professional (the so-called C-suite initiative), NAHQ and the Healthcare Quality Certification Board exhibited at the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s annual meeting, held June 23–27 in Las Vegas, NV. Many vendors had displays in the exhibit hall, and educational opportunities were offered for every level of attendee. |
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One educational session, “The Business Case for Quality: Ingraining P4P into Operations,” discussed recent improvements in cardiac care and the use of data for medical staff education and community marketing and awareness. The presenters, both from Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI, were John Byrnes, MD, senior vice president of system quality, and Joseph J. Fifer, CPA FHFMA, vice president of hospital finance. With a focus on financial perspective and outcomes, Byrnes and Fifer observed that
- 90% of the quality data used within organizations is financially driven
- quality professionals should be using a financial metric-based approach to drive change
- a good measurement system will allow teams opportunities to improve care and outcomes, while decreasing cost.
A few points struck me as particularly important. First, quality is a revenue center. Second, the partnership between finance and clinical information is critical to patient outcomes. Personally, I am convinced that quality professionals have a very distinct role in our organizations today: in large part because of our quality improvement efforts, we are the bridge between understanding data and clinical outcomes. I hope that you will ride the wave of NAHQ as we continue to explore and write the business case for quality.
NAHQ Is Going Green!
When it comes to going green, just a few small steps can go a long way in reducing our collective carbon footprint on the environment. NAHQ is taking several such steps at its 2008 annual educational conference:
NAHQ preconference workshops: Rather than putting the handouts for concurrent sessions and paper presentations on a CD, NAHQ will make the handouts available online on the NAHQ conference Web site. Preconference workshop handouts also will be available electronically through a separate log-in for those registered for preconference workshops. NAHQ suggests that you print your session handouts before arriving at the conference.
Attendee rosters: NAHQ will not be including hard copies of attendee rosters in the registration materials. Instead, making electronic rosters available will help save about 18,500 pieces of paper. Click here for the registration lists. Do your part to go green and print double-sided copies.
Online evaluation: Conference evaluations will be submitted through an online form. Attendees will be able to print their certificates immediately after submitting the evaluation.
E-mail confirmation: Confirmation letters will be e-mailed to you after you register. Please make sure that NAHQ has your correct e-mail address.
In addition, a hotel spokesperson says that the hotel recycles paper and cardboard, e-mails its daily reports, provides paperless meetings, and is looking into offering an alternative to plastic water bottles.
Beyond the annual conference, NAHQ has also implemented these green initiatives:
Salary Survey: NAHQ’s next new product, the 2008 Salary Survey, will be an electronic document rather than a printed booklet.
Continuing Education (CE): Most of NAHQ’s CE opportunities are paperless. NAHQ offers the Journal for Healthcare Quality articles and exams for CE hours online. You can print your certificate immediately after taking the exam. NAHQ also offers audio and Webcast courses throughout the year. All handouts for these sessions are sent electronically.
NAHQ E-News: In 2007 NAHQ replaced its printed newsletter with a monthly e-newsletter. Get all your updates online with NAHQ E-News!
2009 AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize
Applications are now available for the 2009 American Hospital Association (AHA)-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize, which honors leadership and innovation in patient care quality, safety, and commitment by hospitals. The 2009 prize will honor organizations that (1) in a systematic manner have committed to achieving the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) six quality aims: safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity; (2) can document programs that facilitate achievement of all six IOM aims; and (3) provide replicable models and systems for the hospital field. The prizewinner will receive $75,000, and two finalists will receive $12,500 each.
Nominations may be made by e-mailing questforquality@aha.org or through the AHA Web site. Click here to download an application. Completed applications must be returned by October 14, 2008. For more information, contact Kathy Poole, AHA’s director of governance projects, at 312/422-2704 or at kpoole@aha.org.
Joint Commission's 2009 National Patient Safety Goals
The Joint Commission recently announced the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals and related requirements for each of its accreditation programs and its Disease-Specific Care Certification Program. The National Patient Safety Goals promote specific improvements in patient safety by providing healthcare organizations with proven solutions to persistent patient safety problems. These goals apply to the more than 15,000 healthcare organizations and programs accredited or certified by the Joint Commission.
Major changes for 2009 include three new hospital and critical-access hospital requirements related to preventing deadly healthcare-associated infections due to multiple drug-resistant organisms (MDROs), central line–associated bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections. It is recognized that patients continue to acquire preventable infections at an alarming rate within hospitals, so these additions build on an existing National Patient Safety Goal to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. The new requirements related to central line–associated bloodstream infections also will take effect for ambulatory care facilities and office-based surgery practices, home care organizations, and long-term care organizations. In addition, prevention of surgical site infections will be a new requirement for ambulatory care facilities and office-based surgery practices. These new infection-related requirements have a 1-year phase-in period that includes defined milestones, with full implementation expected by January 1, 2010.
healthfinder.gov Web Site Redesigned
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced the redesign of healthfinder.gov. The new beta site is focused on prevention and offers a user-friendly interface, simple navigation and organization of information, and an easy-to-read format. New features include a “quick guide to healthy living” and “personal health tools,” including menu and activity planners and health calculators. Users can also obtain personalized health recommendations by clicking “myhealthfinder.”
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