Melony E. Sorbero

Addresses one step in the process of moving from teamwork training to teamwork practices that improve outcomes of care: identifying outcomes that are most likely to be affected as teamwork practices improve in an implementing organization. It discusses a literature search, methods for selecting and testing candidate measures, measures highly rated by clinical experts, and results of measure testing on administrative data of the DoD health system.

This report presents the results of the first systemwide survey on the availability, documentation and coding, credentialing and privileging practices, and demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) services fielded in 142 military treatment facilities across three branches of service (Army, Air Force, and Navy) and the National Capital Region Medical Directorate (e.g., Walter Reed).

Value-based purchasing (VBP) refers to a broad set of performance-based payment strategies that link financial incentives to health care providers performance on a set of defined measures in an effort to achieve better value. This report summarizes the current state of knowledge about VBP programs and offers recommendations for the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of VBP programs."

To learn how hospital labor and delivery units can achieve effective and sustainable teamwork practices and how much such practices affect staff experiences and patient outcomes, RAND researchers studied five units as they implemented improvements in their teamwork practices over a one-year period. They identified some key factors required by any given strategy for teamwork improvement but no standard template for implementation.

This book updates the policy context of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety initiative; documents the current priorities and activities undertaken; and assesses contributions of funded projects and dissemination actions to support adoption of evidence-based safe practices. It discusses implications for future AHRQ policy, programming, and research; suggests ways to strengthen AHRQ activities. It evaluates progress of the patient safety initiative led by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), focusing on how the current experiences of AHRQ and its funded projects can be used to strengthen subsequent program activities.

Updates the policy context of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety initiative; documents the priorities and activities being undertaken; lays out an evaluation framework and possible measures of the effects on patient outcomes and on stakeholders other than patients. Discusses implications of the findings for future AHRQ policy, programming, and research; suggests ways to strengthen AHRQ activities.

An evaluation of the first two years of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Veterans' Affairs' Patient Safety Improvement Corps program for improving health care professionals' patient-safety knowledge and skills. Data were collected through in-person interviews at the final training session, and through telephone follow-up interviews one year later. Overall, participants valued the tools and skills they learned and continue to use.