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August 31, 2011
Palliative Care
Palliative care relieves suffering and improves quality of life for patients with serious conditions and their family caregivers. It involves symptom and pain management, shared decisionmaking, practical and psychosocial support, and coordination across care settings. Palliative care services are typically provided by multidisciplinary teams that consult with patients and family members to address their complex needs.

The featured Innovations describe three programs that deliver palliative care in different settings.

The featured QualityTools provide health care professionals with resources and tools to support the development and quality improvement of palliative care programs. August 17, 2011
Reducing Readmissions in Special Settings
Hospital readmissions are costly and often avoidable with better care transitions between hospitals and different care settings. According to a recent study, 23.5 percent of all patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities in 2006 were rehospitalized within 30 days, at a total cost of $4.34 billion per year to the Medicare program.

The featured Innovations describe three different programs that reduced hospital readmissions from long-term residential care and skilled nursing facilities, leading to significant cost savings.

The featured QualityTools provide resources and tools for improving transitions of care and reducing avoidable rehospitalizations. August 03, 2011
Clinical & Community Linkages
A long-term goal of AHRQ is to foster linkages between clinical practices and community organizations to enhance the delivery of preventive services. By increasing access to health care and community services, these linkages can improve health outcomes and reduce disparities.

The featured Innovations describe two programs that increased access to culturally competent services through a comprehensive approach that included linkages.

The featured QualityTools offer resources to build clinical and community partnerships, including an assessment of community health needs. July 20, 2011
Health IT in Care Coordination
Patients often receive fragmented care that is delivered across multiple providers and organizations. Health information technology is increasingly being used to improve care coordination by enabling the timely and effective exchange of clinical information between providers.

The featured Innovations describe three programs that use electronic systems in the coordination of care, with a focus on patient referrals and care transitions.

The featured QualityTools provide guidance for the electronic exchange of health information and other resources to support coordinated care. July 06, 2011
Medical Electronic Alerts
Medical electronic alerts are being integrated into clinical decision support systems, electronic health records (EHRs), and electronic prescribing to improve patient safety and quality of care. Clinicians receive alerts or reminders at the point of care to take specific actions such as ordering a test or confirming the patient is not at risk for a drug-drug interaction. However, as one program discovered, it is important to be selective about the number and type of electronic alerts to have a positive impact on physician behavior.

The featured Innovations describe three programs that use electronic alerts or reminders along with clinical guidelines or other best practices to improve patient care and physician performance.

The featured QualityTools provide standard approaches to improve the usability of EHRs and frequently asked questions about clinical decision support systems.

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