Quality and Safety
by Laura DeStefano | Mar 9, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
A basic aim of effective and efficient health care is ensuring the right match between the patient’s condition and the setting for the patient’s care. With that aim in mind, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently implemented the Surgical Complexity...
by Laura DeStefano | Feb 24, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
Amidst the politicized and polarized debate on health care policy, it is encouraging to know that the goal of this discussion remains unchanged; Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, and liberals all seem to agree that we should be working to create a high-value,...
by Laura DeStefano | Feb 10, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
Despite past efforts to improve patient safety—and there has been effort and activity aplenty—routine safety processes continue to fail routinely. Poor hand hygiene remains a major vector of health care-associated infection. Medication errors lead to adverse drug...
by Laura DeStefano | Jan 27, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
The challenging economics of health care require today’s innovators to demonstrate value against a number of criteria, including access to care, the current standard of care, and the economic capacity of payers. One way innovators have sought to address the paradox of...
by Laura DeStefano | Jan 27, 2012 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
What Is a Health Literate Organization? This paper describes ten attributes of a health literate organization, that is, an organization that makes it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to take care of their health. (See Table...
by Laura DeStefano | Jan 27, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
In 1965, when Medicare was enacted, spending for prescription drugs was less than $4 billion—so low that no one thought to include a drug benefit as part of Medicare. By 2003, the cost and importance of drug therapy was so high that Medicare Part D was enacted. Drug...
by Laura DeStefano | Oct 1, 2011 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Abstract To generate needed improvements in health care, its delivery, and its outcomes, organized and sustained efforts at continuous improvement are needed. The Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care has developed the vision of...
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