UNM Residents Publish Quality Improvement and Ethics Journal
CIR members at the University of New Mexico launched a new journal to highlight resident-led projects aimed at improving quality of care and patient safety in the hospital. The mission of the University of New Mexico Quality Improvement and Ethics Journal is to coordinate collaboration among residents interested in quality improvement, showcase resident projects, and assist residents with obtaining the resources and education they need to make a positive systems level change during their residency.
» Read more: University of New Mexico Quality Improvement and Ethics Journal
Residents Improve Medication Safety through Effective Patient Communication
Patient safety experts have long agreed that medication errors are the single most frequent source of preventable error. Additionally, creating a culture of patient safety requires strong teamwork and effective communication between healthcare providers, yet there is often not enough attention devoted to developing these skills. The NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and CIR’s Policy and Education Initiative (PEI) sponsored a one-day conference “Improving Medication Safety Through Effective Communication and Teamwork” on November 30, 2011, bringing together 160 healthcare professionals from all 11 hospitals in the HHC system.
Maimonides Quality Improvement Initiative
In their latest round of contract negotiations, Maimonides Medical Center residents saw an opportunity to go beyond salaries, benefits and day-to-day conditions and to focus on broader issues like improving efficiency and the quality of patient care in the hospital. The new three-year contract, ratified in November, puts the hospital in the forefront of New York’s teaching hospitals in efforts to forge an employee-hospital collaboration to improve the quality of healthcare.
» Read more: Maimonides Quality Improvement Initiative
Quality Improvement: NE Regional Training Resource Guide
Health care reform will emphasize quality improvements in healthcare delivery as a means of improving patient care and controlling costs. This will have major implications for residents and their hospitals. At a one-day Northeast Regional CIR meeting held in New York City, residents learned about several examples of programs where housestaff and hospital management are working together to improve patient outcomes.
» Read and download CIR’s Northeast Regional Meeting Resource Guide
Work Hours Redesign
Take the lead in redesigning your residency program
Is your program ready to implement the new ACGME regulations on hours and supervision? Want to learn more about the history surrounding work hours regulations? Study the research and academic studies? Explore best practices from hospitals nationally and internationally?
Experience shows that when residents participate in schedule redesign, all residents benefit from shorter hours, better training and a safer work environment.
» Read more: Gain access to research, best-practice examples and our Work Smart Toolkit
Help Prevent Medical Errors in Your Hospital
According to the 1999 Institute of Medicine report, “To Err is Human”, an estimated 98,000 patients die each year from medical errors. New York CIR members are learning how to help prevent them!
The Near Miss Project, headed up by Dr. Ethan Fried, Director of Graduate Medical Education at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital & a Principal Investigator of the Near Miss Project, educates residents on how to identify and report a near miss, which is an act of omission or commission that could have harmed the patient–IF it had not been caught.
