Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K L Beck.
Each year pain disables approximately 50 million Americans. This study determined the relationships among pain management and patients' and nurses' perceptions of quality nursing care. This study was a secondary analysis of data for 91 patients, with additional data collected. How patients perceive their nursing care may correlate with how well their pain is managed.
The simultaneous evaluation of quality and the cost of health care can provide information that is useful for guiding quality improvement activities while minimizing or reducing cost. Despite the evidence of concern for health care costs, a long history of concern for health care quality, and numerous efforts to evaluate the quality and cost of health care simultaneously, current methods have been relatively ineffective in decreasing or containing costs. Simultaneous monitoring of cost and quality indicators can be used to compare differences between the cost of prevention and the cost of failure and can be utilized to determine areas where failure costs can be decreased.
The replacement of the paper medical record at Emory will be gradual over the next several years. We foresee milestone events after which portions of the patient record are no longer retained in paper form. As these milestones are identified, the HIM professionals at the three institutions will begin the formidable task of managing the transition to a paperless system. Evaluation of business processes and the skill sets needed by staff members can be accomplished and a plan for each phase of transition developed.