The Direct Dispatch
A Newsletter For Healthcare Providers

August 2018
Greetings!

Read below for this month's exciting news from Direct Difference, Inc!
49% of US Hospitals Comply With CMS Sepsis Treatment Measure
An analysis of CMS data on the performance of 3,005 hospitals from January through September 2017 showed that 49% of hospitals complied with the CMS' Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle standards. The low compliance rate, however, doesn't mean that sepsis treatment is poor at most US hospitals, because the CMS measure doesn't directly reflect outcomes for sepsis patients, according to patient safety experts.

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Focus Group to Develop International Standards for AI Use In Health Care
The World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union established the ITU Focus Group on AI for Health to help develop a standards framework for using artificial intelligence in health care across the world. The focus group will also produce an assessment framework for the evaluation and validation of AI algorithms and identify AI use cases in the health care sector.

Quality Reporting Center Upcoming Events
Drowning In Data Collection?
Measuring quality is necessary for improving healthcare. We understand that when providers are overly consumed with measuring and reporting quality metrics, it is difficult to actually apply results and focus on actions that lead to real improvements.

Why not smart source all of your data abstraction needs so that it is done better, faster, more consistently, and at lower cost and with less risk?

Did you know we provide abstraction services for core measures, non-core measures, registry, OPPE-FPPE, NHSN, peer review, pharmaceutical studies and others? If you have any data abstraction needs please contact us for more information. All you have to do is respond to this email to get started.

You can also visit our website for more information!
QI Initiative Tied To Fewer Health Care Associated Infections
Researchers found that the rate of pediatric health care-associated viral infections at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia dropped from 0.81 per 1,000 patient days to 0.60 per 1,000 patient days after the deployment of a quality improvement program, which included targeted prevention practice development, implementation and refinement. The findings in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology also associated the QI program with improved hand hygiene and visitor screening.

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EHRs Are Top Factor in Physician Burnout
Reaction Data surveyed 254 US physicians from various specialties and found that 21% cited EHRs as the biggest determinant in physician burnout, followed by payers/preauthorization, regulatory compliance and internal bureaucracy. Thirty-four percent of respondents said improving the user-friendliness of EHR systems could lessen the burden, while 17% suggested adding dictation and scribe features and 13% wanted to reduce the time spent on documentation.

Opioid Use Increases Readmission Rates In Joint Replacement
A study in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery found a 6.2% hospital readmission rate for patients who took opioid pain drugs for more than 60 days prior to knee replacement surgery, compared with 4.8% for those who did not take the medications. For hip replacement patients, the readmission rate for those taking opioids was 5.8%, compared with 3.7% for those who did not use them before surgery.

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