Joint Commission guides help to build culture of quality, safety
Joint Commission Resources and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have published The Essential Guide for Patient Safety Officers, second edition and A Clinical Improvement Action Guide, third edition. The first book, written for patient safety leaders, other senior leaders, clinicians and others, provides a road map to enable health care organizations to create a strategy, structure, environment and metrics to improve the safety and reliability of care. In the second guide, experts provide proven methods for integrating the core competency of practice-based learning and improvement into the daily clinical work of health care organizations. Visit www.jcrinc.com.
Shortage of IT workers could slow providers' progress
Under pressure to meet requirements for electronic health records and avoid penalties, 75 percent of hospitals and other providers expect to hire staff to support their information technology priorities, PwC's Health Research Institute reports. This at a time when the shortage of health IT workers appears greater then previously estimated, according to an institute analysis. Providers say their biggest need is for clinical informaticists, specialists who transform data into information used to improve care. "The benefits of HIT will not be realized until organizations can ensure information is unlocked and integrated in a way to best inform critical business and clinical decision-making," says Daniel Garrett, PwC's Health Information Technology practice leader. Visit www.pwc.com/us/en/heal-cutives released a book to help physician leaders identify disruptive behavior among staff and implement practical solutions for dealing with it. Bullying, harrassment and other bad behaviors "may be on the rise due to stress associated with health care reform. As reimbursement declines and uncertainty increases, some health care workers lash out at the people around them," says co-author William Martin. Visit acpe.org/publications.
