In a special issue of Health Affairs, researchers examine the persistent challenges facing the U.S. health care system with respect to closing the gaps in quality and safety of care.
The papers appearing in this special issue present a mixed picture of health care quality. Some leading health systems are making strides at improving quality and safety of care and lowering health care costs. Their success lies in dramatic changes, such as creating new cultural norms and mobilizing a wide variety of stakeholders in the change process. Additional papers describe key components of future quality improvement efforts and challenges that lie ahead.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the issue also looks at the profound costs incurred by shortfalls in quality, the optimal ways to measure quality, and the most successful ways to date of improving the quality of care.
April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality
April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality
- 1. The Ongoing Quality Improvement Journey
- 2. A Road Map for Improving the Performance of Performance Measures
- 3. The Trade-Off Among Quality, Quantity, and Cost
- 4. 'Global Trigger Tool' Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater Than Previously Measured
- 5. Preventing Bloodstream Infections
- 6. Measuring the Performance of Individual Physicians by Collecting Data from Multiple Health Plans
- 7. Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
- 8. Despite Improved Quality of Care in the Veterans Affairs Health System, Racial Disparity Persists for Important Clinical Outcomes
- 9. The Importance of Transitional Care in Achieving Health Reform
- 10. An Early Status Report on the Beacon Communities' Plans for Transformation Via Health Information Technology
- 11. A Comparative Study of 11 Local Health Department Organizational Networks
- 12. Public Health Performance
- 13. A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
- 14. Public Health Delivery Systems
- 15. A Shot in the Rear, Not a Shot in the Dark
- 16. What Predicts Local Public Health Agency Performance Improvement?
- 17. Growth of a Scientific Community of Practice
- 18. Evolution of Coauthorship in Public Health Services and Systems Research
- 19. Resources that May Matter
- 20. Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths
- 21. Public Health Financial Management Competencies
- 22. Decision Science
- 23. Public Health Financial Management Needs
- 24. Data-Driven Management Strategies in Public Health Collaboratives
- 25. Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
- 26. Public Health Systems and Services Research
- 27. Mapping the Multidisciplinary Field of Public Health Services and Systems Research