The Official Journal of the
National Association for Healthcare Quality

Guest Editorial: 2007 Special Issue on Healthcare Quality Research—Five Years, But Who’s Counting?
Jacqueline Fowler Byers

Quality Improvement, Research, and the Institutional Review Board Linda Harrington

Abstract: Is an activity quality improvement, or is it research? And why does the distinction make a difference? This article offers healthcare quality professionals information that will better equip them to ensure safe practice and protect human subjects.

Assessing Quality of Care for African Americans with Hypertension Rosalind M. Peters, Ramona Benkert, Ellen Dinardo, Thomas Templin

Abstract: African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of hypertension. A causal-modeling design, using Donabedian’s Quality Framework, tested hypothesized relationships among structure, process, and outcome variables to assess quality of care provided to this population. 

Interview with a Quality Leader: Bernard Rosof on the State of Medical Quality
Margaret P. Chu

Abstract: Bernard Rosof is senior vice president for corporate relations and health affairs at the North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System and clinical professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He has chaired committees and task forces for the Institute of Medicine, National Quality Forum, and the American Medical Association.

Data Distribution and Analysis: A Step to Improving Nursing Quality
Sandra G. Amin, Ann Fiorta, Jacquelyn A. Niesen

Abstract: Following the implementation of a process to improve data distribution, frontline nurses at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, OH, were more engaged in improvement activities, and significant improvement was noted on several measures.

Understanding Patterns of Change over Time to Improve Mammography Rates
Judith K. Barr, Yun Wang, Maureen Curry, Michele Kelvey-Albert, Thomas J. Van Hoof, Thomas P. Meehan

Abstract: This retrospective cohort study determined trends and patterns of mammography rates in 1997–2001 among female Medicare beneficiaries ages 50 years and older in Connecticut to better understand changes in rates over time and to plan future interventions.

Promoting Consistent Clinical Preventive Services Guidelines Among Competing Health Plans 
Cynthia G. Ayres, Hurdis M. Griffith

Abstract: This study used a systematic approach to reach consensus among health plan medical directors on 17 clinical preventive services guidelines that the health plans could endorse as a priority for implementation.

Patient Satisfaction: Evaluating the Success of Hospital Ward Redesign 
Theresa J. B. Kline, Barry W. Baylis, Fatima Chatur, Sonja A. Morrison, Debbie E. White, Rhona H. Flin, William A. Ghali

Abstract: Patients who were moved from a traditional medical ward to a new state-of-the-art ward were surveyed regarding their perceptions of quality during their hospitalization. Findings indicated that enhancing the facilities of the patient care environment improved patients’ overall perceptions of the quality of their hospital stay.

Conference Brief: Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 18th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care 
Susan V. White

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