Hospital Quality Improvement: Strategies and Lessons From U.S. Hospitals

www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=471265
S. Silow-Carroll, T. Alteras, and J. A. Meyer
The Commonwealth Fund, April 2007



This report from the The Commonwealth Fund focuses on the dynamics of hospital performance: how hospitals achieve and sustain improvements over time.


Case studies of four hospitals that made substantial improvements reveal a pattern:


1) a trigger such as a crisis or new leader serves as a "wake-up call" that prompts the hospital to make

2) organizational and structural changes such as multidisciplinary teams, quality-related committees, and technology investments, which facilitate

3) a systematic problem-identification and problem-solving process, resulting in

4) new treatment protocols and practices, which in turn result in

5) improved outcomes.

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