ViewPoints Blog

Port-related infections are something no patient hopes to get, and something that no care team wants to see. iVantage Health Analytics learned how a twenty three bed rural critical access hospital's focus on prevention has paid off.

How did they do it? They developed a port policy and a comprehensive education program for all staff. There are 3 components of the program:

Reducing readmissions for stroke patients benefits both the patient and the hospital. This is something hospitals are actively working on: Among all patients with stroke, 30-day hospital readmission declined by an annual mean of 3.3% between 2010 and 2014.*

iVantage Health Analytics asked hospitals what they are doing to reduce readmissions for stroke patients. See "Reducing Readmissions for Stroke/TIA Populations" for detailed information from 18 responding hospitals. Here are some of the things they are doing:

A review of iVantage Clinical Benchmark data highlighted the need for one midwestern academic medical center to focus their efforts on DRG 456-460 (Spinal Fusion) ... these surgeries were too costly for the hospital.

What did they do in response? Formed a team including neurosurgeons, orthopedic spine surgeons, administrators/COO, implant coordinator, nursing unit managers, ambulatory nurse managers, case managers, pharmacists, and OR RNs. Data analysts and finance team members were also included in the process. The team developed several goals associated with these surgeries:

Sepsis is costly for hospitals and dangerous to patients. What are hospitals doing in an effort to stop sepsis before it starts?

During a recent peer-to-peer learning event, iVantage hospitals shared that 14 of 15 hospitals screen patients vulnerable to sepsis. Many of these had a screening tool built into their EMR; some screen on each shift. See "Preventing Sepsis 2017" for the details, including shared sepsis screening tools!

Here are 5 things hospitals are doing in addition to sepsis screens: