The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations This important book is a practical, theory-based resource on the topic of health care quality management written for health care administrators and practitioners. It offers the tools needed to help managers make decisions, prioritize resources (financial and human), and analyze and improve the care they deliver. The Handbook offers a hands-on approach to specific topics such as the implementation of managerial goals, instructions for developing accurate measurements for evaluating care, the utilization of data as a basis for process improvement, exploration of quality management tools and techniques, guidelines for the complex integration of collaborative services in health care, and methods for effective communication and improving accountability. In addition, the book is filled with illustrative examples of methods for ensuring appropriate oversight of clinical and quality activities, offers solutions for addressing and preventing adverse events, and explores the important people-to-people interactions that ultimately define excellence in medical care. Praise for The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations "The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations offers students of health care policy and management a unique opportunity to learn firsthand from one of the nation’s leading experts in health care quality. Dr. Dlugacz’s passion for promoting the highest ideals of quality in health care should inspire future generations of health care professionals." –Alan M. Leiken, chair, Department of Health Care Policy and Management, School of Health Care Policy and Management, School of Health Technology and Management, Health Sciences Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook "This outstanding book combines both the quantitative aspects of data collection and analysis with the critical human behaviors that make up a health care institution’s culture. Only when these two factors combine do true ‘quality’ decisions and patient care result." –Stuart R. Levine, author, The Six Fundamentals of Success "The Quality Handbook reflects the authors’ combination of technical know-how, years of experience, and the enthusiasm for the complex challenge of their work." –Margaret E. O’Kane, president, National Committee of Quality Assurance

Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations, Student Edition This comprehensive textbook provides a complete introduction to risk management in health care. Risk Management Handbook, Student Edition, covers general risk management techniques; standards of health care risk management administration; federal, state and local laws; and methods for integrating patient safety and enterprise risk management into a comprehensive risk management program. The Student Edition is applicable to all health care settings including acute care hospital to hospice, and long term care. Written for students and those new to the topic, each chapter highlights key points and learning objectives, lists key terms, and offers questions for discussion. An instructor's supplement with cases and other material is also available. American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) is a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association with more than 5,000 members representing health care, insurance, law, and other related professions. ASHRM promotes effective and innovative risk management strategies and professional leadership through education, recognition, advocacy, publications, networking, and interactions with leading health care organizations and government agencies. ASHRM initiatives focus on developing and implementing safe and effective patient care practices, preserving financial resources, and maintaining safe working environments.

The book shows readers exactly how to use Lean tools to design healthcare work that is smooth, efficient, error free and focused on patients and patient outcomes. It includes in-depth discussions of every important Lean tool, including value stream maps, takt time, spaghetti diagrams, workcell design, 5S, SMED, A3, Kanban, Kaizen and many more, all presented in the context of healthcare. For example, the book explains the importance of quick operating room or exam room changeovers and shows the reader specific methods for drastically reducing changeover time. Readers will learn to create healthcare value streams where workflows are based on the pull of customer/patient demand. The book also presents a variety of ways to continue improving after initial Lean successes. Methods for finding the root causes of problems and implementing effective solutions are described and demonstrated. The approach taught here is based on the Toyota Production System, which has been adopted worldwide by healthcare organizations for use in clinical, non-clinical and administrative areas.

Described in the New York Times as “an astonishingly clear ‘user’s manual’ that explains our health care system and the policies that will change it,” The Health Care Handbook, by Drs. Elisabeth Askin and Nathan Moore, offers a practical, neutral, and readable overview of the U.S. health care system in a compact, convenient format. The fully revised third edition provides concise coverage on health care delivery, insurance and economics, policy, and reform—all critical components of the system in which health care professionals work. Written in a conversational and accessible tone, this popular, highly regarded handbook serves as a “one stop shop” for essential facts, systems, concepts, and analysis of the U.S. health care system, providing the tools you need to confidently evaluate current health care policy and controversies.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/