Information and resources to improve patient outcomes are available to support your quality improvement initiatives.

Disease-specific Care

General

• The Joint Commission-Hospital Core Measures

Heart failure 

     The Joint Commission

• Heart Failure National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures [PDF]
• Heart Failure measure 3-ACE I or ARB for LVSD [PDF]
• Heart Failure measure 4-Adult Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling [PDF]

     Guidelines and Best Practices

• ACCF/AHA Focused Update on the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults (2009)
• Performance measure set American College of Cardiology
• ASHP Therapeutic Position Statement on Cessation of Tobacco Use
• Resources for Healthcare Professionals (AHA)

     Sample tools,protocols, order sets, strategies for change

• Download Sample Heart Failure CareMap Screening Form [DOC]
• Implementation and evaluation of electronic clinical decision support for compliance with pneumonia and heart failure quality indicators Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Feb 2009; 66: 389 - 397.
• Multidisciplinary team for enhancing care for patients with acute myocardial infarction or heart failure. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Jun 2007; 64: 1274 - 1278.

Venous thromboembolism

• On Demand CE : Implementing Quality Improvement in VTE Prophylaxis
• 2008 National Patient Safety Goal:  3E Anticoagulation Therapy (page 6) [PDF]
• Anticoagulant Toolkit (Focus on PDSA cycle and on measurement of improvements) 
• National Indicators for Venous Thromboembolism Prevention and Treatment Under Development
• Venous Thromboembolism Risk Common in Inpatients, Researchers Say

     Guidelines and Best Practices

• CHEST evidence-based antithrombotic and thrombolytic therapy guidelines
• Performance Measure Initiatives - Update on National Consensus Standards for Prevention and Care of VTE
• AHRQ National Clearinghouse Guidelines

Sample tools, Protocols, Order Sets, and Measures

• ASHP Anticoagulation Resource Center
• Sample tools, protocols, order sets, and strategies for change for VTE prophylaxis
• Outpatient Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Study
• Development and implementation of a program to assess medical patients’ need for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis.  Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Sep 2008; 65: 1755 - 1760.
• Pharmacist-led program to improve venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in a community hospital. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Sep 2008; 65: 1643 - 1647.
• Translating evidence-based guidelines into performance measures for venous thromboembolism and acute coronary syndrome. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Jun 2007; 64: S25 - S29.

     Web-based educational programs

• Implementing Quality Improvement in VTE Prophylaxis
• Pharmacist Essentials in Preventing and Managing Venous Thromboembolism
• Applying Evidence-based Strategies for the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism and the Management of Acute Coronary Syndrome
• Using Quality Indicator and Performance Measure Data and Evidence-Based Guidelines to Improve the Care of Elderly Patients on Antithrombotic Therapy
• Guidelines for Anticoagulant Therapy in the Prevention and Treatment of VTE: Achieving Meaningful Quality Improvement
• Back to the Basics: Managing Anticoagulation Therapy and Meeting the National Patient Safety Goal 3E
• Improving Quality of Antithrombotic Therapy through the use of National Performance Measures
• Applying Evidence Based Guidelines in the prevention and treatment of VTE
• Applying Quality Measures and Guidelines in the Management of ACS and VTE

Myocardial infarction

• CMS Pilot Project: Pay for Performance in Acute Myocardial Infarction

     Guidelines and Best Practices

• Update on Management of STEMI Patients -slide set from ACC/AHA
• ACC/AHA Performance Measures for Patients with AMI
• ACC/AHA Focused Update of the 2004 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of STEMI (2007)
• ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Unstable Angina or Non-STEMI (2007)
• Adult Treatment Panel III (Guidelines for  Cholesterol Management)

     Sample tools, Protocols, Order Sets, and Measures

• Download Sample Acute Myocardial Infarction CareMap Screening Form [DOC]
• Quality Net sample tools, protocols, order sets and strategies for change for acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
• A Rapid Cycle Collaborative Model for AMI Guidelines from The Joint Commission
• ASHP Therapeutic Position Statement on the Daily Use of Aspirin for Preventing Cardiovascular Events [PDF]

     Web based educational programs

• Improving Clinical Management of ACS:  Appropriate Benefit Design for Optimal Patient Outcomes
• Translating Evidence-Based Guidelines into Clinical Practice in the Management of ACS
• Applying Quality Measures and Guidelines in the Management of ACS and VTE

Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP)

• About SCIP
• Article on a multi-disciplinary team approach to enhancing compliance with Medicare guidelines for surgical site infection
• Surgical Infection Prevention Guidelines Writers Workgroup et al. Antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery: an advisory statement from the National Surgical Infection Prevention Project. Clin Infect Dis. 2004 Jun 15; 38(12):1706-15 and reprinted in Am J Surg. 2005; 189:395-404.

Glycemic control

     Guidelines, Best Practices, and Position Statements

• American College of Endocrinology (ACE) Position Statement on Inpatient Diabetes and Metabolic Control [PDF]
• American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and American Diabetes Association (ADAP statement on Inpatient Diabetes and Glycemic Control [PDF]
• American Diabetes Association (ADA) Management of Diabetes and Hyperglycemia in Hospitals
• American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Medical Care  for Diabetes
• Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) guidelines for the management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
• Joint Commission's Certificate of Distinction for Inpatient Diabetes Care
• Internists Group Says Aim Low But Feasible in Glycemic Control [PDF]

     Web-based educational programs

• Management of Hyperglycemia in Acute-Care Setting and the Transition to the Ambulatory Setting

     Sample tools, protocols, order sets, measures

• Society of Hospital Medicine Glycemic Control Resource Center
• Hospital protocols for targeted glycemic control: Development, implementation, and models for cost justification. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., May 2007; 64: S15 - S20.
• Implementing an intravenous insulin infusion protocol in the intensive care unit.
  Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Feb 2007; 64: 385 - 395.
• Insulin infusion protocol for critical care units. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Nov 2005; 62: 2260 - 2264.
• IHI Sliding Scale Insulin Recommendations
• St. David’s Austin, Texas [PDF]
• Society of Hospital Medicine Sample Protocols

Pneumonia  

• The Joint Commission Pneumonia National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures [PDF]

     Guidelines and Best Practices

• Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults: Guidelines for Management.  Infectious Diseases Society of America . Clinical Infectious Diseases 2007;44:S27–S72
• Guidelines for Management of Hospital and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia . American Thoracic Society (2005)

     Sample tools, protocols, order sets, measures

• Download Sample Pneumonia CareMap Screening Form [DOC]
• QualityNet Pneumonia
• QualityNet Immunizations
• Implementation and evaluation of electronic clinical decision support for compliance with pneumonia and heart failure quality indicators. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Feb 2009; 66: 389 - 397.
• Designing and implementing a hospital-based vaccine standing orders program. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., May 2007; 64: 1096 - 1102.
• Development of a best-practice model at a university hospital to increase efficiency in the management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., Nov 2000; 57: S6 - S9.
• Prevention of Influenza . MMWR Recomm Rep. 2008. 57(RR-07)1-60.
• ACIP Provisional Recommendations for Use of Pneumococcal Vaccines
• Prevention of Pneumococcal Disease. MMWR Recomm Rep. 1997.46(RR-08).

Children’s Asthma Care (CAC)

• The Joint Commission Children’s Asthma Care National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures [PDF]

     Guidelines and Best Practices

• The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (2007)
• National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions
• Children's asthma care: percent of pediatric asthma inpatients who received systemic corticosteroids during hospitalization

HIV

• National Quality Center Resource on Improving HIV Care

Medication-related indicator resources

• Measure Comparison (Inpatient Hospital Quality Measures)
• Overview of Joint Commission Performance Measure Initiatives
• Facts about ORYX® for Hospitals (National Hospital Quality Measures)
• AHRQ Quality Indicator Resources
• CMS Hospital Quality Initiatives
• National Voluntary Concensus Standards for the Reporting of Therapeutic Drug Management Quality