Brianna Parker

Best Practices in Substance Use Disorder Treatment in the ED

Over the past several decades, the United States has experienced a rising crisis in substance abuse. This is illustrated most dramatically by the rise in deaths from drug overdose.   According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, the number of drug overdose deaths has quadrupled since 1999 [i]. More work needs to be […]

Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Virtual Care Throughout the Pandemic

It has been an unprecedented and taxing two years for front-line workers and patients alike.  Nearly one of three patients delayed in-person health care visits in 2020 due to access issues and/or fear of exposure to COVID-19. According to a national poll, 57% of Americans experienced negative health repercussions, including and up to premature death. In […]

ALERT: Data Show Higher Percentage of Syphilis Among Pregnant Patients

The Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) through its Sentinel Signal Detection System has identified a significant increase in syphilis diagnoses among pregnant patients from 2020-2021. Specifically, the figure below indicates that syphilis prevalence doubled among pregnant patients from 2020 through June 2021 compared to 2019 (0.16% vs. 0.08%). The elevated syphilis prevalence is not unique to […]

Updated Quality Transparency Dashboards Now Available

HQI, in cooperation with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and the CHA, creates and distributes quarterly dashboards of publicly available quality data for each CHA acute care member hospital. These model dashboards currently provide information on eight measures.  

Preview of the Third Sentinel Signal Detection Report

Sentinel signal detection systems automatically detect abnormal changes (i.e., signals) in the incidence of diagnosis codes from hospital discharge records in the Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP), as well as term frequencies from the Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization (CHPSO) safety reports.  

The Impact of Bias on Quality and Patient Safety

Racial health disparities have been a major focus in health care in recent years. Growing research illustrates the negative impact implicit bias has on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States.   The data reveal these groups experience higher rates of illness and death in a wide range of health conditions (diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, and heart disease) when compared to whites. This can be a difficult issue to unpack, especially in health care, an industry that is designed ultimately […]

Protecting your Organization from Ransomware

The 2021 wave of ransomware attacks has washed over every major business sector — including health care. Moreover, a Wall Street Journal article dated June 10 pointed out that one group of ransomware criminals is specifically targeting hospitals. This unfortunate reality strongly suggests that everyone in the CHA/HQI community should be working to avoid becoming a ransomware victim. This article will discuss high-priority items for organizations to pursue in that effort and identify some important strategies that sometimes get overlooked. Together, this information will hopefully help bolster your barriers against ransomware.