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Bronchiolitis-associated hospitalizations among American Indian and Alaska Native children.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness among infants and young children. Respiratory system diseases account for a large proportion of hospitalizations in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children; however, aggregate estimates of RSV-associated hospitalizations among AI/AN children have not been made. METHODS: We used Indian Health Service hospitalization data from 1990 through 1995 to describe hospitalizations associated with bronchiolitis, the most characteristic clinical manifestation of RSV infection, among AI/AN children <5 years old. RESULTS: The overall bronchiolitis-associated hospitalization rate among AI/AN infants < 1 year old was considerably higher (61.8 per 1,000) than the 1995 estimated bronchiolitis hospitalization rate among all US infants (34.2 per 1,000). Hospitalization rates were higher among male infants (72.2 per 1,000) than among females infants (51.1 per 1,000). The highest infant hospitalization rate was noted in the Navajo Area (96.3 per 1,000). Hospitalizations peaked annually in January or February, consistent with national peaks for RSV detection. Bronchiolitis hospitalizations accounted for an increasing proportion of hospitalizations for lower respiratory tract illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchiolitis-associated hospitalization rates are substantially greater for AI/AN infants than those for all US infants. This difference may reflect an increased likelihood of severe RSV-associated disease or a decreased threshold for hospitalization among AI/AN infants with bronchiolitis compared with all US infants. AI/AN children would receive considerable benefit from lower respiratory tract illness prevention programs, including an RSV vaccine, if and when one becomes available.

Age Distribution↗

Clinicians struggle to stay up to date on practice parameters.

With hundreds of clinical practice parameters in place and hundreds more being developed, clinicians are scurrying just to keep up. But obtaining information on clinical guidelines ranks as a top priority for hospital quality management programs, according to an American Hospital Association survey.

American Hospital Association↗

'Stakes are even higher'.

While Congress continues to debate how and where to slice more than $450 billion out of the future growth of the federal Medicare/Medicaid programs, the American Hospital Association is in the midst of an aggressive advocacy campaign intended to minimize the impact on America's hospitals and health systems. In an exclusive interview with the editors of Georgia Hospitals TODAY, American Hospital Association President Richard Davidson outlined AHA's efforts and goals during the legislative process and stressed the need for all hospitals to be involved in educating their legislative representatives.

American Hospital Association↗

Isolation practices: a historical perspective.

Isolation practices assume a major role in the activities of many hospital infection prevention and control programs, yet few of the practices have been studied for efficacy. The origins for some of these practices can be traced to the nursing literature published in the American Journal of Nursing in the early part of the century. Others originated with public health measures for quarantine of communicable diseases in the community or attempts to simulate operating room practices for compromised patients. This historical review presents information about isolation practices from the perspective of the American Journal of Nursing with additional information from some Centers for Disease Control and American Hospital Association publications. The American Journal of Nursing was selected because it is a major source for content of nursing textbooks from which most nurses first learn isolation practices. Nurses are also the persons primarily responsible for the implementation of isolation practices in hospitals. Two themes emerged from this historical review: (1) a continuing debate about the importance of the inanimate environment and the importance of the airborne route versus the importance of contact with moist body substances as major modes of transmission of infectious agents and (2) a continuing debate between those who believe in special isolation techniques only for persons with diagnosed infections and those who believe all persons may harbor potentially infectious agents and who therefore focus attention on assessment of care requirements where contact with body substances is anticipated. This review is intended to encourage critical evaluation of isolation practices in use in hospitals today.

Cross Infection↗

Update on the Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990: current hospital requirements and recommended actions 1996.

This document updates the recent changes in the Safe Medical Devices Act. Facilities must comply with the new changes effective July 31, 1996. Some information in this document is taken from a previous technical document written in 1992 by Henry Alder. Also included in this document is some FDA information, which can also be obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Please also note information being offered by the American Hospital Association on page 18.

American Hospital Association↗

A population-based study of the association of medical manpower with county trauma death rates in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between measures of medical manpower available to treat trauma patients and county trauma death rates in the United States. The primary hypothesis was that greater availability of medical manpower to treat trauma injury would be associated with lower trauma death rates. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: When viewed from the standpoint of the number of productive years of life lost, trauma has a greater effect on health care and lost productivity in the United States than any disease. Allocation of health care manpower to treat injuries seems logical, but studies have not been done to determine its efficacy. The effect of medical manpower and hospital resource allocation on the outcome of injury in the United States has not been fully explored or adequately evaluated. METHODS: Data on trauma deaths in the United States were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. Data on the number of surgeons and emergency medicine physicians were obtained from the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association. Data on physicians who have participated in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Advanced Trauma Life Support Course (ATLS) were obtained from the ACS. Membership information for the American Association for Surgery of Trauma (AAST) was obtained from that organization. Demographic data were obtained from the United States Census Bureau. Multivariate stepwise linear regression and cluster analysis were used to model the county trauma death rates in the United States. The Statistical Analysis System (Cary, NC) for statistical analysis was used. RESULTS: Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that a variety of medical manpower measures and demographic factors were associated with county trauma death rates in the United States. As in other studies, measures of low population density and high levels of poverty were found to be strongly associated with increased trauma death rates. After accounting for these variables, using multivariate analysis and cluster analysis, an increase in the following medical manpower measures were associated with decreased county trauma death rates: number of board-certified general surgeons, number of board-certified emergency medicine physicians, number of AAST members, and number of ATLS-trained physicians. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms previous work that showed a strong relation among measures of poverty, rural setting, and increased county trauma death rates. It also found that counties with more board-certified surgeons per capita and with more surgeons with an increased interest (AAST membership) or increased training (ATLS) in trauma care have lower per-capita trauma death rates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Black or African American↗

Quality of care developments. 1993 update.

This monograph offers an overview of quality of care developments at the federal and state government levels, as well as in the private sector. Although health care reform legislation focuses on access, costs, and delivery systems, initiatives involving the quality of care not only will continue but are included in most of the reform efforts being proposed and those already under way. At the federal level... At the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), publication of Medicare mortality data is delayed and the Peer Review Organization (PRO) program is undergoing a major change of emphasis under a "quality improvement initiative." The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) has taken effect amidst controversy and further rulemaking is expected to correct flaws. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) is forging ahead with new practice guidelines while it starts to evaluate their effectiveness. Data on the patient outcomes in organ transplant centers, first published last year, now will be published on a regular basis. The National Practitioner Data Bank continues functioning amidst criticism and varying recommendations for change, from excluding information on small malpractice claims (e.g., less than $30,000) to opening up the data bank to the public (as proposed by Rep. Ron Wyden). Other federal developments include various quality-related reports from the Inspector General of HHS, the General Accounting Office, the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, and the Physician Payment Review Commission, plus QI initiatives in Veterans Administration hospitals and the CHAMPUS programs. Among the states... Florida has included outcome data reporting and dissemination in its health care reform plan while Illinois struggles with whether physician-specific data will be made public. An innovative effort to test whether practice guidelines can reduce malpractice costs is underway in Maine, while Indiana began an outcome data project. Among accreditation agencies and associations... The Joint Commission is moving ahead with its Agenda for Change, including nationwide reporting of quality indicators and an expansion of accreditation to health care delivery systems and hospice programs. The American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association continue to support practice guideline development with education and research, while a number of hospitals and health systems are using comparative outcome data and clinical benchmarking to study and improve care. Conclusion... There is certainly some duplication of effort and the question of value (return on investment) must be raised given the cost of all these efforts. Without question, however, quality of care initiatives are omnipresent and challenging.

Government Agencies↗

Hospital association libraries: an overview.

Results of a survey conducted by the Library of the American Hospital Association to gather data about library and information services provided by other hospital associations are reported. Topics covered include staffing, funding, collection size, users, and services. The interface of these libraries with other health sciences libraries and the national Biomedical Communications Network (BCN) is discussed.

American Hospital Association↗

The changing national policy system: complexity, Medicare, and implications for aging groups.

Changes in congressional processes, health agendas, and competitive positions of physician and hospital groups in the 1980s have produced important setbacks for such group interests within Medicare. Though united and successful in opposing Carter's 1977-79 hospital cost-containment proposals, these groups were subjected to severe new limits on hospital reimbursements under the 1982 budget reconciliation act. Thereafter, problems in protecting their interests continued or increased. Disagreements among hospital groups (e.g., the American Hospital Association and the former Federation of American Hospitals) surfaced over the Prospective Payment System introduced in 1983. In 1984, Congress instituted a freeze on physicians' Medicare fees despite AMA opposition. This projected narrow self-interest, thus decreasing the AMA's credibility. Further cost restrictions were imposed in 1985-86 budget acts. The problems of these organizations indicate that if aging groups are to protect their own stake in Medicare in the new political context, they must be particularly concerned with unity, credibility, and long-term perspectives.

Aged↗

Patient education can make a difference.

Relieving the acute physical distress of chronic lung ailments is just one step in rehabilitation. The American Hospital Association and the American Lung Association have developed a manual for health-care teams to teach patients how to help themselves return to a more normal life.

Humans↗

Organizational characteristics of solid-organ donor hospitals and nondonor hospitals.

CONTEXT: Efforts to increase organ donation include serious attempts in hospital settings, where unrealized donation potential exists. Research on hospital donation must include understanding organizational as well as patient-specific influences on the donation process. OBJECTIVE: To identify organizational characteristics that distinguish hospitals producing organ donations from those that do not, and to estimate the number of nondonor hospitals with donor potential. DESIGN: Data from the American Hospital Association's 1992 annual survey of hospitals were matched to Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network information from the United Network for Organ Sharing regarding the number of solid-organ donors in 1992. Hospitals with donation capability were identified, based on bed size and factors necessary to produce successful donor maintenance and organ recovery. Based on statistical analyses, organizational characteristics distinguishing donor hospitals from nondonor hospitals were identified. We also compared the number of donors and the number of donor hospitals in 1992 and 1996. SETTING: United States. RESULTS: Among all hospitals affiliated with the American Hospital Association (n = 5607), 1214 (22%) were identified as donor hospitals (> or = 1 donation in 1992). Of 2333 hospitals with procurement capability, 1268 (54%) produced no donors in 1992. Based on a multiple logistic regression model, donor hospitals differed from nondonor hospitals by hospital ownership, with municipally owned hospitals more likely and federally owned hospitals less likely to produce donation, compared with for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals. Other organizational characteristics associated with donor hospitals were level of trauma services, whether the hospital had a transplant surgery program or a hospital ethics committee, and whether it was located in the South Atlantic, Southwest Central, or Pacific regions of the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Among hospitals not currently producing organ donations, there is a sizable subgroup with donor potential. This area merits further attention.

American Hospital Association↗

The American Hospital Quest for Quality Prize.

Improving the quality and safety of health care requires dedicated leadership and the involvement of everyone who affects care within an organization, from trustees and administrators to physicians, nurses and frontline staff. To honor organizations that have made exceptional improvements in quality and patient safety, the American Hospital Association, along with McKesson Corp. and McKesson Foundation, established The American Hospital Quest for Quality Prize: honoring leadership and innovation in patient care quality, safety and commitment. The award recognizes hospitals and health systems that have created measurable and sustainable quality and patient safety programs. Among other things, the organization must have a blame-free work environment and systems in place to help identify actual and potential adverse events and solutions to improve them. As the winner of the inaugural Quest for Quality Prize, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Town and Country, Mo., received $75,000 to further its safety and quality efforts. Two finalists--Children's Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., and Fairview Hospital, Great Barrington, Mass.--each received a $12,500 award. A Citation of Merit was presented to Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

American Hospital Association↗

Report of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Task Force: executive summary and 2003 canine vaccine guidelines and recommendations.

The AAHA has undertaken the development of this document in an effort to inform veterinary practitioners, clarify misunderstandings held by veterinarians, and encourage practitioners to recognize that immunization of patients is a medical procedure. As such, it is bound by the same tenets that govern the recommendation of other medical procedures-principally, that it be tailored to the needs of the individual patient. Many diseases we immunize against are ubiquitous. Many are serious and some even life threatening. Some are of limited demographic concern given the exposure risk for each patient. These factors have all been considered in developing the AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines. In the end, each veterinarian must do what he or she determines to be in the best interest of the patient. Vaccination of individual animals produces not only individual immunity but also population or herd immunity. Since we have no readily available and reliable way to determine if each patient has developed an adequate immune response, we encourage the practice philosophy of vaccinating more patients while vaccinating each patient no more than needed.

Animals↗

The nursing shortage: can information technology help?

There is no doubt that the nursing shortage is a real and valid concern for the medical community. American Hospital Association President Dick Davidson reports: "America needs up to 126,000 nurses now, as well as more pharmacists, lab technicians, support staff and others. We need immediate action to help alleviate this situation" (American Hospital Association, 2001). Clinical information systems can be one of those immediate actions that can help nurses feel more confident about the care they are delivering. In addition to preventing medical errors, streamlining workflow and communications, and reducing redundant data entry, these systems can have a lasting and positive effect on overall job satisfaction, providing a significant influence on retaining our invaluable nursing resources.

Hospital Information Systems↗

Patients unhappy, AHA/Picker say.

The American Hospital Association and The Picker Institute say Americans want more information and empowerment from their providers. Fully one-third of those surveyed by the organizations say they have problems getting answers to important health-related questions. Marketers need to reconsider their own assessments of patient satisfaction and get patients more information. CHESS, a computerized information-distribution package, provides one elegant--and cost-saving--example.

American Hospital Association↗

Hospital peer review and the National Practitioner Data Bank: clinical privileges action reports.

CONTEXT: The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) is believed to be an important source of information for peer review activities by the majority of those who use it. However, concern has been raised that hospitals may be underreporting physicians with performance problems to the NPDB. OBJECTIVE: To examine variation in clinical privileges action reporting by hospitals to the NPDB, changes in reporting over time, and the association of hospital characteristics with reporting. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of privileges action reports to the NPDB between 1991 and 1995, linked with the 1992 and 1995 databases from the Annual Survey of Hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4743 short-term, nonfederal, general medical/surgical hospitals throughout the United States that were continuously open between 1991-1995 and registered with the NPDB. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Reporting of 1 or more privileges actions during the 5-year study period and (2) privileges action reporting rates (numbers of actions reported per 100000 admissions). RESULTS: Study hospitals reported 3328 privileges actions between 1991 and 1995; 34.2% reported 1 or more actions during the period. The range of privileges action reporting rates for these hospitals was 0.40 to 52.27 per 100000 admissions, with an overall rate of 2.36 per 100000 admissions. The proportion of hospitals reporting an action decreased from 11.6% in 1991 to 10.0% in 1995 (P=.008). After adjustment for other factors, urban hospitals had significantly higher reporting than rural hospitals (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.21 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.43]), while members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals of the Association of American Medical Colleges had significantly lower reporting than nonmembers (adjusted OR, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.40-0.73]). There were notable regional differences in reporting, with the east south Central region having the lowest rate per 100000 admissions (1.49 [95% CI, 1.33-1.65]). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate a low and declining level of hospital privileges action reporting to the NPDB. Several potential explanations exist, 1 of which is that the information reported to the NPDB is incomplete.

Clinical Competence↗

Does reengineering really work? An examination of the context and outcomes of hospital reengineering initiatives.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of reengineering on the competitive position of hospitals. Although many promises have been made regarding outcomes of process reengineering, little or no research has examined this issue. This article provides an initial exploration of the direct effects of reengineering on the competitive cost position of hospitals and the modifying effects of implementation factors. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Obtained for primary data from a 1996/1997 national survey of hospital restructuring and reengineering sponsored by the American Hospital Association and the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics. Responses from approximately 30 percent of all U.S. acute care hospitals with 100 or more inpatient beds in metropolitan service areas were combined with American Hospital Association annual survey and InterStudy HMO data in this study. STUDY DESIGN: A first-difference multivariate regression was utilized to examine the effects of reengineering and other explanatory variables on the change in the cost position of a hospital's expenses per adjusted patient day relative to its market's costs per adjusted patient day. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: The survey of hospital restructuring and reengineering was mailed to hospital chief executive officers. The CEOs identified reengineering and restructuring hospital activities over the previous five years. The extensiveness and components of reengineering and internal restructuring were identified and used in the empirical analysis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Results suggest that reengineering without integrative and coordinative efforts may damage an organization's cost position. The use of steering committees, project teams, codification of the change process, and executive involvement in core changes modifies the results of reengineering to improve an organization's competitive position. CONCLUSIONS: In a national sample of hospitals, reengineering alone was not found to improve the relative cost-competitive position. Organizations attempting to improve their cost competitiveness must consider the way in which change is implemented. This research suggests that the process of change may be as important as the change instrument. Additional research is needed to explore differences between early and late adopters.

Analysis of Variance↗

Malpractice reform: what will it take to patch up the system. Interview by James E. Orlikoff.

Numerous economic, legal, and human variables are entangled in the current malpractice crisis. To help governing boards gain perspective on the malpractice situation, James Orlikoff, program director in the American Hospital Association's division of hospital governance, recently spoke with four experts who are familiar with the different areas involved in the crisis: Dixie Arthur, vice-president, Health Providers Insurance Corp.; Richard Epstein, senior vice-president and general counsel, American Hospital Association; James Hughes, partner, Bricker and Eckler, Columbus, OH, and general counsel to the Ohio Hospital Insurance Co.; and William Robinson, AHA senior vice-president and president, Health Provider Insurance Co.

Governing Board↗