What's New | March 30, 2009

Teamwork and Communication

Patient safety experts have identified effective teamwork as an essential factor in reducing medical errors. Encouraging team approaches to health care delivery can increase communication timeliness and accuracy and reduce adverse events.

The featured profiles describe programs designed to enhance teamwork and communication.

Featured Innovations:

• Interdisciplinary Clinic Using Team-Based Approach Improves Outcomes and Reduces Costs for Frail, Vulnerable Elderly

• Team Communication Improvement Initiatives Enhance a Hospital’s Culture of Safety, Leading to Improved Outcomes

• Team-Administered Protocol Encourages Mobility in Respiratory Intensive Care Unit Patients, Leading to Shorter Length of Stay

Featured QualityTools:

• Team Development Measure
Developed by Sacred Heart Medical Center - PeaceHealth

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Also in This Issue:

Innovations >

• Afterhours Telephone and In-Home Hospice Care Leads to High Satisfaction and Anecdotal Reports of Fewer 911 Calls and Emergency Department Visits

• Noise Alert System Helps Staff and Visitors to Reduce Decibel Levels in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

• Standardized Protocols and Processes Enhance Compliance With Recommended Care, Improve Staff Perceptions of Patient Safety at a Birthing Center

QualityTools >

• Elective Induction and Augmentation Bundles
Developed by Institute for Healthcare Improvement

• Principles for Clear Health Communication
Developed by Pfizer Health Literacy Initiative

• What You Need To Know About...Episiotomy
Developed by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center