D Matthew Sherrer, Brooke R Vining, Andrew H Morris, Joseph M Kreutz, Mitchell H Tsai, Sunil Eappen
{"title":"Leading with Complexity to Improve Care Team Interactions in Anesthesiology.","authors":"D Matthew Sherrer, Brooke R Vining, Andrew H Morris, Joseph M Kreutz, Mitchell H Tsai, Sunil Eappen","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000273","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000273","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"34-36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145764933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joshua J Davis, Minh Khuc, Adria Bolack, Sarah Clemons, LeeAnn Algier, Tammy Northrop, Melisa A Birkey, Jannifer Phan, Patrick McClung, Stephanie J Jordan, Matthew Sinnwell
{"title":"A Multidisciplinary Initiative Improves Care for Psychiatric Patients Boarding in the Emergency Department.","authors":"Joshua J Davis, Minh Khuc, Adria Bolack, Sarah Clemons, LeeAnn Algier, Tammy Northrop, Melisa A Birkey, Jannifer Phan, Patrick McClung, Stephanie J Jordan, Matthew Sinnwell","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000269","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000269","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emergency departments (EDs) in the United States face increasing challenges caring for psychiatric patients, resulting in prolonged boarding and delayed treatment. This single-institution quality improvement initiative used a multidisciplinary approach focused on improving efficiency and use of resources to improve care for psychiatric patients in the ED. Following implementation, time to triage decreased 23% (30-23 minutes), and patients leaving without treatment dropped from 6.5% to 4.2%. The authors showed a 24.9% reduction in time to medication for agitation (from 3.0 to 2.2 hours). ED boarding time for admitted patients decreased 10.9% (981-874 minutes), while ED length of stay for discharged patients increased 9.9% (403-443 minutes). Physical restraint use in the ED dropped 7.1% (112-104 events), with total restraint time decreasing 27.7% (4.7-3.4 hours). Results remain variably sustained at 2 years. This initiative demonstrated that structured, team-based interventions can significantly improve psychiatric emergency care.</p>","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"15-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145350915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Play it SAFE: Evaluating Self-Efficacy of Healthcare Providers Following Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Certification Training.","authors":"Erin Lavin, Samantha Blaine, Leah Gancz, Michelle Tepper, Amy Smith, Samita M Heslin","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000275","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":"41 1","pages":"41-42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145867031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mallory A Koshiol, Juliana Aadland, Julie M Lauria, Venkateshwaran K Iyer, Ganesh Asaithambi
{"title":"Transforming Safety Culture: A Systemwide High Reliability Approach to Preventing Serious Harm in Healthcare.","authors":"Mallory A Koshiol, Juliana Aadland, Julie M Lauria, Venkateshwaran K Iyer, Ganesh Asaithambi","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000278","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000278","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Preventable medical error is a leading cause of death in the United States. While high-reliability organization (HRO) implementation efforts have become widespread, they often lack integration across culture, learning systems, and ambulatory care. A large health system launched a systemwide HRO improvement effort to drive reductions in serious safety events (SSEs), improve safety reporting culture, and align executive leadership with frontline safety practice. This is a retrospective observational study conducted between January 2019 and June 2025 across 12 hospitals and over 90 ambulatory clinics. The systemwide HRO intervention included leadership development, a unified safety reporting system, tiered safety huddles, and structured root cause analysis feedback. Safety culture scores were measured using Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality surveys in 2021 and 2024. SSEs were standardized as serious safety event reports (SSERs) per 10,000 patient-days. Hospital SSERs decreased significantly by 71% ( P < 0.001 for trend). Ambulatory SSERs increased due to enhanced harm detection efforts, but not significantly ( P = 0.356 for trend). Safety culture composite scores improved in 11 of 13 individual domains, with the largest percentage improvements in scores for leadership support and communication. A systemwide, unified HRO approach that holistically incorporates HRO-aligned standard work, executive leadership alignment, and proactive systems design can result in lasting preventable harm reductions and cultural transformation.</p>","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"27-33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145764927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using a Thromboelastography-Based Transfusion Protocol for Acute Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Cirrhotic Patients.","authors":"Himsikhar Khataniar, Fjona Tabaku, Ashni Dharia, Dheera Grover, Mrudula Gadani, Aakash Gadani","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000264","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":"40 6","pages":"290-291"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145411344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Culture of Civility Drives Safe Patient Care in High-Reliability Organizations.","authors":"Farzana Hoque","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000260","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000260","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"285"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144288032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Youssef Elfatatry, Julia Palecki, Amry Majeed, Nevin Varghese, Alexis Wickersham
{"title":"Identifying Inappropriate Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) Utilization in the Outpatient Setting: A Quality Improvement Proposal.","authors":"Youssef Elfatatry, Julia Palecki, Amry Majeed, Nevin Varghese, Alexis Wickersham","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000263","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":"40 6","pages":"292-293"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145411299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emergency Department Rapid Assessment of Obstetric Patients Improves Length of Stay.","authors":"Joshua McCartney, Samita M Heslin","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000266","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000266","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":"40 6","pages":"288-289"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145411327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James Coons, Virginia Singla, Evan White, Erica Byers, Eric Dueweke, Suresh Mulukutla, Francis Solano, Sandeep K Jain
{"title":"Anticoagulation Optimization Through a Specialized Center for Atrial Fibrillation.","authors":"James Coons, Virginia Singla, Evan White, Erica Byers, Eric Dueweke, Suresh Mulukutla, Francis Solano, Sandeep K Jain","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000261","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000261","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Atrial fibrillation is a prevalent condition, which is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke. Anticoagulation is widely used to mitigate stroke risk but remains underprescribed in certain circumstances. The authors evaluated the performance of a health record database query in identifying patients who may benefit from anticoagulation who did not have an active prescription for anticoagulation. Patient charts were reviewed by primary care providers and reasons for deferral of anticoagulation were provided. A subset of the patients identified were found to not have an appropriate reason for deferring anticoagulation. This initiative ultimately led to an increase in referrals to the center for specialty care of atrial fibrillation.</p>","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"261-265"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12570608/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144319126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asfandyar Khan, Tara Cohen, Scott A Shappell, Albert J Boquet
{"title":"Uncovering Latent Failures Using Human Factors Approach as a Diagnostic Tool for Quality Improvement in Orthopedic Surgery.","authors":"Asfandyar Khan, Tara Cohen, Scott A Shappell, Albert J Boquet","doi":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000265","DOIUrl":"10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000265","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The HFACS framework demonstrated strong reliability in identifying systemic weaknesses within orthopedic surgical workflows. These findings emphasize the urgent need for structured interventions that reduce distractions, improve team communication, and regulate vendor interactions in the operating room, all essential steps toward advancing safety and enhancing overall patient care quality.</p>","PeriodicalId":101338,"journal":{"name":"American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality","volume":" ","pages":"255-260"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144700885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}