Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Improvement Stories

	Log In/Register
	Contact Us
	Site Map

More Search Options

	Home > Topics > Patient Safety > Safety: General > Improvement Stories

Programs

Topics

Improvement

Leading System Improvement

Chronic Conditions

Critical Care

Developing Countries

End Stage Renal Disease

Flow

Healthcare-Associated Infections

Health Professions Education

HIV/AIDS

Last Phase of Life

Medical-Surgical Care

Office Practices

Patient-Centered Care

Reducing Harm from Falls

Surgical Site Infections

Safety: General

IHI.org has two types of Improvement Stories:

IHI.org Stories that describe the changes and results in specific organizations.
Improvement Project Reports from IHI.org users that describe improvement projects in their organizations.

We all learn from others' experiences testing and implementing changes in real settings — who should be on the team; what measures were tracked; which changes worked best or didn't work at all; and what lessons were learned.

Improvement Project Reports, submitted by IHI.org users, accelerate our learning. In the spirit of "all teach, all learn," we encourage you to share your Improvement Report with the IHI.org community. Please click the Submit an Improvement Report button below.

Related Patient Safety Improvement Stories:

Medication Systems

Surgical Site Infections

Choose the story types you would like to see:

Improvement Project Reports
IHI.org Stories

only the story types I've requested

Reducing Surgical Complications for Elective Surgery Inpatients
Sioux Falls VA Medical Center (Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA) decreased the surgical complication rate in the elective surgery inpatient population by 50 percent in less than 12 months by focusing on improved perioperative teamwork and communication and increasing compliance with the infection, venous thromboembolism, and Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) cardiac measures.

Missouri Baptist Medical Center: Where the Raw Mortality Rate Dropped 22 Percent Between 2002 and 2006
At Missouri Baptist Medical Center, they call it “putting it all together,” the ability to take the kind of multi-faceted approach to improving safety that results in reduced mortality rates.

Nebraska Medical Center: Where the Hospital Avoided Estimated Expenses of $3.6 Million Over Two Years by Preventing Pressure Ulcers
Pressure ulcers, commonly known as bedsores, used to be regarded as an unfortunate but sometimes unavoidable result of hospitalization. Fortunately, all that is changing, thanks to new understanding about how to prevent pressure ulcers.

Profiles in Improvement: Doug Bonacum of Kaiser Permanente
Who's improving health care? People are. Listen to the story of Doug Bonacum of Kaiser Permanente.

Safer Patients Initiative: Where Safety Briefings Are At the Heart of Safer Care
With the support of The Health Foundation, an independent charity in Great Britain, and designed and implemented by IHI, the Safer Patients Initiative (SPI) is a quality and performance improvement program that encompasses all four nations of the United Kingdom. The program, now entering its third year, puts safety at the heart of all care delivery.

Columbus Regional Hospital: Where a Focus On Safety Promotes Interdisciplinary Teamwork
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the same concept is true in health care: it takes a team to deliver excellent care. At Columbus Regional Hospital, teamwork brings together unlikely partners who reach across departments and disciplines to build safety into every aspect of care.

Highly Reliable Surgical Teams (HRST): Improving Teamwork and Surgical Outcomes with Structured Briefings in a Large HMO – A Spread Project
Northern California Kaiser Permenente (San Francisco, California, USA) increases surgical reliability and reduces surgical harm in 16 surgical sites in Northern California.

The Hospital at Night Program: Reducing Risks at Our Most Vulnerable Time of the Day
This 2007 National Forum Workshop presentation describes innovative approaches to clinical handoffs, medical staff training, and the timing of procedures to deliver safe and reliable care to patients at night.

Empowering Patient Escorts: Reducing Skin Ulcers and Delays for Radiology Exams
Patient transporters at Aurora Sinai Medical Center (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) reduced skin ulcers from 8.5 percent to 1.5 percent and completely eliminated delays and rescheduling of radiology exams due to missing patient identification bands.

Don't Bug Me!: Hospital-wide Hand Hygiene Compliance Reduces Infection
Mercy Medical Center (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA) developed and trialed a "Don't Bug Me!" campaign to improve hand hygiene and to meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for compliance to 95 percent.

1 2 3 4 Next Page >>



Find a Colleague Changes Improvement Tracker