Journal Features National Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Awardees

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL--(Marketwired - Jun 22, 2017) - Patient safety and quality improvement efforts prevent errors in health care and save lives. To recognize such efforts, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety features the recipients of the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards, presented annually by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission, in three open access articles from its July 2017 issue.

Launched in 2002, the awards honor the late John M. Eisenberg, MD, MBA, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This year's three Eisenberg Award honorees are recognized for groundbreaking initiatives consistent with the aims of the National Quality Strategy: better care, healthy people and communities, and affordable care:

• Individual Achievement - Carolyn Clancy, MD, deputy under secretary for Health for Organizational Excellence, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, D.C.
• Innovation of Patient Safety and Quality at the National Level - I-Pass Study Group, Boston Children's Hospital
• Innovation of Patient Safety and Quality at the Local Level - Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Delaware

Dr. Clancy is recognized for empowering patients and their families to make informed decisions about their own health care, as well as for her commitment to improving veterans' experience with care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In the article, "An Interview with Carolyn M. Clancy," Dr. Clancy reflects on the beginning of her quality improvement journey with AHRQ, and how, at the VA, Dr. Eisenberg's vision for quality and patient safety is being put into practice for the nation's largest integrated health care system. "[W]e should always strive to follow his [Dr. Eisenberg's] relentless optimism, and keep fighting for quality and patient safety, with an eye on the glass half full," Dr. Clancy states.

The I-PASS Study Group is honored for its national efforts to standardize provider communications and handoffs of care. The article, "Integrating Research, Quality Improvement, and Medical Education for Better Handoffs and Safer Care: Disseminating, Adapting, and Implementing the I-PASS Program," reports on the group's work since its formation in 2009 by patient safety, medical education, health services research and clinical experts at multiple institutions in the United States and Canada. Implementation of the I-PASS Handoff Program in nine hospitals is associated with a 30 percent reduction in injuries due to medical errors and significant improvements in handoff processes.

Christiana Care Health System in Delaware is recognized for its development of Christiana Care Care Link, recently renamed Carelink CareNow -- a robust information technology-enabled network of care coordination support services that builds relationships among providers and patients to optimize outcomes. Carelink CareNow harnesses a real-time information technology platform that integrates information from regional health information exchanges along with other health information. The article, "Innovative Information Technology-Powered Population Health Care Management Improves Outcomes and Reduces Hospital Readmissions and Emergency Department Visits," describes how more than 8,600 patients in several surgical and medical populations, including joint replacement, cervical spine surgery and congestive heart failure have received support from Carelink CareNow.

 The Eisenberg Awards were presented at NQF's annual conference in Pentagon City, Virginia on April 4.

Also featured in the July 2017 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety:

• "Primary Care Collaboration to Improve Diagnosis and Screening for Colorectal Cancer"
• "Designing and Implementing an Electronic Patient Registry to Improve Warfarin Monitoring in the Ambulatory Setting"
• "Flying Blind: Don't Manage Warfarin Without a Registry"
• "Improving Care Teams' Functioning: Recommendations from Team Science"

 For more information, visit The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety website.

Note for editors
These articles appear in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, volume 43, number 7 (July 2017), published by Elsevier:

"An Interview with Carolyn M. Clancy."

"Innovative Information Technology-Powered Population Health Care Management Improves Outcomes and Reduces Hospital Readmissions and Emergency Department Visits," by Sharon Anderson, BSN, MS, RN, CPHQ, FACHE; Michele Campbell, MSM, RN, CPHQ; Donna Mahoney, MHCDS; Ann Kathryn Muther, MSN, RN; Janice Nevin, MD, MPH; Patricia Resnik, MBA, MJ, RRT-NPS, CPHQ, FACHE; Tabassum Salam, MD, FACP, CHCQM; Terri Steinberg, MD, MBA.

"Integrating Research, Quality Improvement, and Medical Education for Better Handoffs and Safer Care: Disseminating, Adapting, and Implementing the I-PASS Program," by Amy J. Starmer, MD, MPH; Nancy D. Spector, MD; Daniel C. West, MD; Rajendu Srivastava, MD, MPH; Theodore C. Sectish, MD; Christopher P. Landrigan, MD, MPH.

The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety (JQPS) is a peer-reviewed journal providing health care professionals with innovative thinking, strategies and practices in improving quality and safety in health care. JQPS is the official journal of The Joint Commission and Joint Commission Resources, Inc. Original case studies, program or project reports, reports of new methodologies or the new application of methodologies, research studies, and commentaries on issues and practices are all considered.

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