...to define the “right” amount to be spend in healthcare. As our nation is debating what the appropriate amount to be spend on healthcare is, this project aims on understanding the drivers for this high cost and possible ways to control them. One of the important drivers for this high healthcare cost that we identified and will discuss in this paper is unnecessary care. Although there are number of factors contributing to unnecessary care, this paper focuses on four key issues mainly sterilization, hospital acquired infections, medical errors and hospital readmissions. Sterilization: Background of the issue Hospitals are hygienic paradoxes. It is where patients are cured from diseases and acquire a new one. Hospital hygiene is difficult to achieve. According to the World Health Organization estimates, “more than 1.4 million people worldwide are affected by infections acquired in hospitals” (Cleanhospitals.net). Why are there so many unclean hospitals and what body of people holds them accountable for medical negligence? How do you eliminate hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and improve hospital hygiene standards? Current status and challenges Currently, many hospitals clean, disinfect, and sterilize hospital equipment. While hospital staff and nurses may be able to be trained on the proper cleaning procedures, equipment sterilization is not a part of the nursing staff’s core competencies....
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...Please click this button to indicate that a screenreader is being used so we may better provide accessible content DEBUNKING TH E MYTHS OF DEBUNKING THE MYTHS OF EBOLA MARK PHILLIPS WESTERN GOVENERS UNIVERSITY LUT1 Debunking The Myths Of Ebola Introduction a. Audience Hook: There seems to be a lot of hysteria about Ebola in the news media. Look at any news source and Ebola is probably on the front page. It makes it seem as though we should be frightened, but how much of a threat does Ebola pose? This presentation was put together to debunk the myths of Ebola and outline what is being done to combat its spread in the United States. b. Thesis Statement: Research suggest that the current Ebola outbreak will not be an epidemic in the United States because it has limited transmission vectors, limited survival on fomites (inanimate objects), and adequate containment measures are achievable to prevent its transmission. Additionally the U.S. community and government responses will be much different than they are in the countries where Ebola is escalating. c. Preview of Main Points: i. Research indicates Ebola is not transmittable through the air but only by direct contact with an infected source so it appears that contact precautions will be an adequate barrier to its spread. ii. Ebola has limited ability to live on fomites therefore research shows that fomites must contain large sources of body fluids in order...
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...medical errors? Allen (2013) In 1999 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report titled “To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System” that leveled the healthcare community. They reported that according to two studies “perhaps as many as 98,000 people die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented”. IOM (1999) Then the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services followed up with a report in 2010 that stated “bad hospital care contributed to the deaths of 180,000 patients in Medicare alone in a given year”. Allen (2013) And finally in 2013, the numbers were once again raised. Per a report from the Journal of Patient Safety that approximately “440,000 PAEs (preventable/potential adverse events) that contribute to the death of patients each year from care in hospitals. This is roughly one-sixth of all deaths that occur in the United States each year”. They are now the U.S.’s third leading cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer. All of the numbers mentioned in the first paragraph are medical errors that were “preventable”. Mistakes by the people you put your trust in killed you, not the reason why you were admitted to the hospital. Now understand they didn’t do it on purpose. But it happens. Define the problem Granted, a death by even one medical error is one too many, but why do the reports have such drastically different numbers? How in the world can “official” reports be off by approximately...
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...health care IT Company that has the capability to install software as well as hardware and has done so in 70% of the nation’s hospitals. McKesson’s software helps all clinicians in charting and treating their patients in a quick and easy manor. McKesson is one of America’s oldest and largest health care companies. McKesson wants to bring together clinical knowledge and technology to create a better work environment through quality health care services and an easier quicker way to chart a patient’s information and progress without taking away from the bedside care. McKesson is all about integrity, customer –first, accountability, respect and excellence. McKesson Horizon Emergency Care Decision Support System In an ever changing world, hospitals are being challenged every day with the increasing elderly in society and their multiple medical problems. The focus is more on the collaborating of hospitals, physicians, and tax payers. Due to all the problems that affect healthcare reform such as preventable readmission, decrease in reimbursements, infections due to hospital stays and financial penalties, patient safety has become the utmost concern for doctors, nurses and ancillary help. One way to collaborate between providers and payers is through a comprehensive electronic health record. A way to support safe, efficient and quality care is through meaningful use. What is meaningful use? Meaningful use is the use of...
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...Introduction: If we speak about this subject before 15 – 20 years back, the subject would be very unique and most of the people will have no understanding about this. But today, Quality tools understanding and importance has grown among people and organizations. There are many tools that are used among the organizations that are classified as follows: 1. Cause Analysis Tools: includes Fishbone, Pareto, and Scattered Diagram. 2. Evaluation and Decision Making Tool: Decision Matrix, Multivoting. 3. Process Analysis Tool: includes Flow chart, Failure Mode Effects Analysis, Mistake-proofing and Spaghetti Diagram. 4. Data Collection and Analysis Tools: box and whisker plot, check sheet, control chart, Design of experiments, Histogram, Scatter Diagram, Stratification, and Survey. 5. Idea Creation Tools: Affinity Diagram, Benchmarking, Brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique. 6. Project Planning and Implementation Tool: Gantt Chart, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle or Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle. 7. Seven New Management and Planning Tools: Affinity Diagram, Relations Diagram, Tree Diagram, Matrix Diagram, Matrix Data Analysis, Arrow Diagram, Process Decision Program Chart. Quality tools & techniques use statistical knowledge to accumulate data and analyze them. It serves diverse range of medical, computing, industrial, telecommunications and defense. These tools drive improvement throughout the organization. Employee has to at all levels has to master the fundamental...
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...A Sigma Medical Technologies Offering TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 3 Problem Statement 4 Introduction 6 Analysis of the Facts 8 Expeditionary Marketing Tools 19 Summary of the Facts 27 Alternatives 30 Recommendations 35 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Founded in 2015, Sigma Medical Technologies (SIGMA) is located in the SE region of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the Sandia Industrial Park area east of Kirtland Air Force Base on Eubank Blvd. SIGMA, owned by Dr. Remy and Mr. Bob Sachs (of TEAM Technologies), serves as the patent holder and developer of “Ozone”. UNM Anderson has been contracted to provide an expeditionary marketing study. Ozone offers an invasive, defined space; gas based delivery system (generated by the product) to kill all living organisms in a room. It provides an affordable elimination and sterilization system for use by the Medical industry. It provides an additional layer of security against concealed germs, bacteria, and viral threats (pathogens). It may even be the cost effective solution to deliver solution based field units to disease hot spots that are engineered for quick and easy “Ozone” sterilization. The technology offers a “whole room” elimination solution (fills available defined space and kills pathogens) as opposed to standard “surface” based elimination systems (based on chemical wipe down style cleaning). Dr. Remy and his supportive team have a...
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...WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care: a Summary First Global Patient Safety Challenge Clean Care is Safer Care a WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care: a Summary © World Health Organization 2009 WHO/IER/PSP/2009.07 All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization can be obtained from WHO Press, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel.: +41 22 791 3264; fax: +41 22 791 4857; e-mail: bookorders@who.int). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications – whether for sale or for noncommercial distribution – should be addressed to WHO Press, at the above address (fax: +41 22 791 4806; e-mail: permissions@who.int). The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. All reasonable...
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...REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Background paper prepared for the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission June 2009 This paper was prepared at the Commission’s request by staff of the secretariat to the Commission. The lead author was Emily Hurley. Ian McRae Ian Bigg Liz Stackhouse Anne-Marie Boxall and Peter Broadhead provided some input and commented on drafts. This is a paper prepared as background for the NHHRC. The views and findings expressed in it should not be taken to be the views of the NHHRC or of the Australian Government. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................4 International overview of efficiency .............................................................4 Health status – due to more than the health care system ............................7 An Australian focus ......................................................................................8 Summary ......................................................................................................8 A framework for efficiency............................................................................9 Operational Efficiency .................................................................................10 Health sub-sectors .....................................................................................11 Hospitals...................................................................................
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...1.|A nurse has been working with Mrs. Griffin, a 71-year-old patient whose poorly controlled type 1 diabetes has led to numerous health problems. Over the past several years Mrs. Griffin has had several admissions to the hospital medical unit, and the nurse has often carried out health promotion interventions. Who is ultimately responsible for maintaining and promoting Mrs. Griffin's health?| A)|The medical nurse| B)|The community health nurse who has also worked with Mrs. Griffin| C)|Mrs. Griffin's primary care provider| D)|Mrs. Griffin| Ans:|D| |Feedback:| |American society places a great importance on health and the responsibility that each of us has to maintain and promote our own health. Therefore, the other options are incorrect.| 2.|An elderly female patient has come to the clinic for a scheduled follow-up appointment. The nurse learns from the patient's daughter that the patient is not following the instructions she received upon discharge from the hospital last month. What is the most likely factor causing the patient not to adhere to her therapeutic regimen?| A)|Ethnic background of health care provider| B)|Costs of the prescribed regimen| C)|Presence of a learning disability| D)|Personality of the physician| Ans:|B| |Feedback:| |Variables that appear to influence the degree of adherence to a prescribed therapeutic regimen include gender, race, education, illness, complexity of the regimen, and the cost of treatments. The ethnic background of the health care provider...
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...LEAN HOSPITALS “Mark Graban’s book has documented what is now happening in hospitals all across America as we learn to apply the Toyota Production System methodology to healthcare. This book lays out the nuts and bolts of the lean methodology and also describes the more difficult challenges, which have to do with managing change. Graban’s book is full of wins—these are the same type of wins that are happening at ThedaCare every day. I wish I could have read this book six years ago, as it might have prevented some of the mistakes we made in our lean transformation journey.” — John S. Toussaint, MD, President/CEO ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value “Coupled with a foundation of alignment and accountability, the ideas in this book provide a powerful tool to help hospitals get closer to the goal we want – perfect care.” — Quint Studer, CEO, The Studer Group, author of Results that Last “Mark Graban is the consummate translator of the vernacular of the Toyota Production System into the everyday parlance of healthcare. With each concept and its application, the reader is challenged to consider what is truly possible in the delivery of healthcare if standardized systems borrowed from reliable industries were implemented. Graban provides those trade secrets in an understandable and transparent fashion.” — Richard P. Shannon, MD, Frank Wister Thomas Professor of Medicine, Chairman, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine “There is an...
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...2013 2014 nash-rOCky mOunt PuBliC sChOOls stuDEnt/ParEnt hanDBOOk Superintendent’s Message August 2013 Dear NRMPS Students and Parents, The School Board, faculty, staff and administrators of Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools are committed to providing a safe, orderly, secure and disruption free environment that will produce globally competitive students, who are prepared for bright and prosperous futures, when they graduate. High quality instruction will offer challenging curriculum based on rigor, relevance and adequate resources for all students. Expectations for student behavior are high in every school. The Code of Student Conduct is revised annually to align with state and federal laws and to address other issues critical to providing a safe and quality educational environment. Included in the Code of Conduct are expectations for behavior on school buses that you should be aware of even if your child does not ride a bus to or from school since these expectations apply for field trips, athletic contest trips and other school approved activities. To ensure consistency with student understanding of school division expectations, the Code of Student Conduct is reviewed at the beginning of each school year. In addition, I urge each parent to read and review this material with your child to ensure that you understand our expectations prior to any potential issues. Being unaware of the rules of conduct and behavior is not a defense if your child actually violates...
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...value the majority of the penances that were made so as to realize the open doors that I have gotten, and it is my trusts that this proposition embodies what I have realized. Much obliged to you for your dedication, bolster, and affection. I might likewise want to thank my grandparents for the numerous hours of math mentoring as a youngster. In spite of the fact that it may have appeared to be inconsequential, it was the premise for my prosperity and the establishment of my hobbies in Designing. I might want to devote this proposition to my family, without whom I would not be seeking after a profession with an instruction from my university undergraduate days. I also thank my supervisor’s effort and good work channelled towards making me a better microbiologist in the world. I sincerely extend my thanks all concerned people who together with me in this regard. Table of Contents I Declaration....................................................................................................................................... 1 IIAcknowledgements............................................................................................................................2 III List of...
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...NINTH EDITION Burton’s MICROBIOLOGY FOR THE HEALTH SCIENCES Paul G. Engelkirk, PhD, MT(ASCP), SM(AAM) Biomedical Educational Services (Biomed Ed) Belton, Texas Adjunct Faculty, Biology Department Temple College, Temple, TX Janet Duben-Engelkirk, EdD, MT(ASCP) Biomedical Educational Services (Biomed Ed) Belton, Texas Adjunct Faculty, Biotechnology Department Temple College, Temple, TX Acquisitions Editor: David B. Troy Product Manager: John Larkin Managing Editor: Laura S. Horowitz, Hearthside Publishing Services Marketing Manager: Allison Powell Designer: Steve Druding Compositor: Maryland Composition/Absolute Service Inc. Ninth Edition Copyright © 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a Wolters Kluwer business © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, © 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, © 1996 Lippincott-Raven, © 1992, 1988, 1983, 1979 JB Lippincott Co. 351 West Camden Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Printed in the People’s Republic of China All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including as photocopies or scanned-in or other electronic copies, or utilized by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the copyright owner, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Materials appearing in this book prepared by individuals as part of their official duties as U.S. government employees...
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...ECONOMICS _____________________________________________________________________________________ WEEK 1: HOW ECONOMISTS THINK * What are preferences? Preferences refer to all of the objectives an individual wants to achieve that might motivate a choice among a set of alternatives. * What does it mean for an individual’s preferences to be rational? Please explain the concepts of costs and benefits and the reasoning process used by a rational individual. A rational individual will try to make the best possible use of his/her scarce resources, usually choosing an activity that has the highest utility. Rational preferences possess 2 properties, which are completeness and transitivity. Completeness means that choices can be ranked in an order of preference. For instance, an individual will have a preference when faced with two choices. Transitivity means actions can be compared with other actions. As an example, if action a is preferred to b, and action b is preferred to c, then a is preferred to c. A benefit is the maximum unit of currency amount you would be willing to pay to do x, while the cost is the value of all the resources you must give up in order to do x. The cost-benefit approach to decisions states that an individual should do an activity x if the benefit exceeds the cost. Relating to cost, in the process of coming up with a decision, a rational individual will take into account opportunity costs and ignore sunk costs. * New theories argue that...
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...Preface A well-developed knowledge of clinical microbiology is critical for the practicing physician in any medical field. Bacteria, viruses, and protozoans have no respect for the distinction between ophthalmology, pediatrics, trauma surgery, or geriatric medicine. As a physician you will be faced daily with the concepts of microbial disease and antimicrobial therapy. Microbiology is one of the few courses where much of the "minutia" is regularly used by the practicing physician. This book attempts to facilitate the learning of microbiology by presenting the information in a clear and entertaining manner brimming with memory aids. Our approach has been to: 4) Create a conceptual, organized approach to the organisms studied so the student relies less on memory and more on logical pathophysiology. The text has been updated to include current information on rapidly developing topics, such as HIV and AIDS (vaccine efforts and all the new anti-HIV medications), Ebola virus, Hantavirus, E. coli outbreaks, Mad Cow Disease, and brand-new antimicrobial antibiotics. The mnemonics and cartoons in this book do not intend disrespect for any particular patient population or racial or ethnic group but are solely presented as memory devices to assist in the learning of a complex and important medical subject. We welcome suggestions for future editions. 1) Write in a conversational style for rapid assimilation. 2) Include numerous figures serving as "visual memory tools" and summary charts...
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