Patient Engagement in Hospital Infection Control: Online Toolkit Provides a New Solution
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) July 28, 2014 -- Qualis Health, one of the nation's leading healthcare consulting and care management organizations, has published a complimentary, online toolkit that provides hospitals a practical, low-cost approach to engaging patients and families in infection control. Tested and refined in real-world environments at multiple hospitals, the toolkit provides a step-by-step roadmap for implementing an innovative “hand hygiene huddle” with patients and their families early in a hospital stay.
“Across the healthcare system, providers and policymakers are looking for solutions that can improve outcomes and make care delivery more patient-centered,” says Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH, Qualis Health President and CEO. “The hand hygiene huddle is a practical, low cost, frontline driven approach to engaging patients and families in a hospital’s infection prevention efforts.”
The toolkit is available at http://www.medicare.qualishealth.org/handhygiene.
Features include a step-by-step implementation roadmap with linked resources, commentary from subject matter experts, and videos of hospital teams describing their implementation successes.
Across the U.S., healthcare-associated infections continue to contribute to unnecessary pain and suffering for hospital patients. The National Quality Strategy has prioritized making care safer by reducing harm caused in the delivery of care, and ensuring that each person and family is engaged as partners in their care. Stemming from a Qualis Health pilot program conducted under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Advisors Program, the huddle concept was further developed through a CMS Quality Improvement Organization special innovation project.
About Qualis Health
Qualis Health is a national leader in improving care delivery and patient outcomes, working with clients throughout the public and private sector to advance the quality, efficiency and value of healthcare for millions of Americans every day. We deliver solutions to ensure that our partners transform the care they provide, with a focus on quality improvement, clinical redesign and effective use of health information technology. For more information, visit http://www.qualishealth.org.
This material was prepared by Qualis Health, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Idaho and Washington, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. WA-C7-QH-1448-07-14
Evan Stults, Executive Director, Communications, Qualis Health, http://www.qualishealth.org, +1 206-288-2458, [email protected]
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