Quality

This topic page provides a brief overview of the Center for Rural Health’s activities relating to Quality. This page contains a list of projects, key staff, and information pulled from the publications, presentations, events, news, and maps section of the CRH web site.

Projects

• CAH Quality Network Development -- Supports quality improvement activities of CAH Network members and assists them with the Medicare Conditions of Participation.
• Environmental Scan of Health and Health Care in North Dakota -- Results from an assessment conducted from December 2008 to February 2009 provides an overview of selected health and health care issues in North Dakota.
• North Dakota Nursing Needs Study -- The North Dakota Nursing Needs Study is a comprehensive, ten-year project that tracks supply and demand of nursing in North Dakota.
• State Office of Rural Health -- A federal-state partnership to help rural communities build their health care services through public and private partnerships and initiatives in rural health development.
• Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center -- Undertakes national projects focusing on quality of rural health care and other important rural health issues.

Staff

• Ward, Jody

Presentations

• History of ND CAH Network
  Presented by Vigen, D., Ward, J., & Swenson, C. on Jun 24, 2009 at the CAH Quality Network Conference, Mandan, ND.
• North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program: Quality
  Presented by Miller, M. on May 6, 2009 at the National Rural Health Association's Annual Conference, Miami, FL.
• An Environmental Scan of Health and Health Care in North Dakota: Establishing the Baselines for Positive Health Transformation
  Presented by Wakefield, M., Volkov, B., & Opsahl, W. on Mar 4, 2009 at the Dakota Medical Foundation board of directors, Fargo, ND.
• The Effect of Rural Hospital Transfers on Mortality of Medicare Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction
  Presented by Muus, K, Knudson, A, Klug, M.G., & Beattie, R. on Mar 27, 2008 at the Frank Low Research Day, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND.
• Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement for Health Professions
  Presented by Wakefield, M. on Feb 26, 2008 at the Bureau of Health Professions All Programs Meeting, Washington, DC.
• Creating a High Performance Health System
  Presented by Wakefield, M. on Oct 9, 2007 at the North Dakota Health Care Review, Inc. Quality Forum, Fargo, ND.
• CAH Quality: Right Place, Right Skills, Right Now!
  Presented by Miller, M. on Apr 4, 2007 at the participants of the North Dakota CAH Quality Network meeting, Bismarck, ND.
• To Map or Not To Map?
  Presented by Beattie, S. & Knudson, A. on Mar 20, 2007 at the 2007 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Mandan, ND.
• CAH Quality: Right Place, Right Skills, Right Now!
  Presented by Miller, M. on Jan 16, 2007 at the North Dakota Critical Access Hospitals meeting, via Interactive Video Network.
• Implementing Best Practice Acts
  Presented by Spike, C. on Oct 11, 2006 at the Toolbox of Solutions for Rural Challenges, Fargo, ND.
• Root Cause Analysis: A Tool for Improvement
  Presented by Beattie, S. & Ranstrom, B. on Oct 11, 2006 at the Toolbox of Solutions for Rural Challenges, Fargo, ND.
• Implementing a Program of Patient Safety in Small Rural Hospitals
  Presented by Knurdson, A., Beattie, S., & Miller, M. on Jul 1, 2006 at the site visits for the 10 participating hospital staff, in Bowman, Harvey, Hettinger, Hillsboro, Mayville, McVille, Park River, Rolla, Rugby, and Watford City, ND.
• Budget Committee on Health Care Testimony
  Presented by Wakefield, M.K. on Jan 4, 2006 at the North Dakota Legislative Council, Grand Forks, ND.
• Keeping Patients Safe: Focus on Team Communication
  Presented by Wakefield, M.K. & Christianson, C. on Apr 28, 2005 at the Advancing Nursing Practice Nursing Symposium, Fargo, ND.
• Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health
  Presented by Wakefield, M.K. on Jan 1, 2005 at the national level to various audiences, Washington, DC.

Publications

• Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Healthcare in America, National Academy of Science, Washington, DC, March, 2001
  Crossing the Quality Chasm makes an urgent call for fundamental change to close the quality gap. This book recommends a sweeping redesign of the American health care system and provides overarching principles for specific direction for policymakers, health care leaders, clinicians, regulators, purchasers, and others.
• A Framework and Action Agenda for Quality Improvement in Rural Health Care, Calico, F.W., Dillard, C.D., Moscovice, I., & Wakefield, M.K., The Journal of Rural Health, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 226-232,, 2003
  
• Health Care Quality: The Rural Context, The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, April, 2003
  A Report to the Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
• North Dakota Rural Hospital Quality Improvement Report, Miller, M., and Medalen, R., June, 2006
  
• Pharmacist Staffing and the Use of Technology in Small Rural Hospitals: Implications for Medication Safety, Casey, M., Moscovice, I., & Davidson, G., December, 2005
  Reports the results of a national study that assessed the capacity of rural hospitals to implement medication safety practices, with particular focus on pharmacist staffing and the availability of technology.
• Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health, Committee on the Future of Rural Health Care, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Academies Press, Washington, DC, November, 2004
  
• A Rural Healthcare Quality Agenda, Wakefield, M.K., Journal for Healthcare Quality, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 2, 57,, 2006
  
• The Importance of Safety and Quality in Rural America, Burstin, H. & Wakefield, M., The Journal of Rural Health, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 301-303,, 2004
  
• Translating Research Into Practice: Voluntary Reporting of Medication Errors in Critical Access Hospitals, Jones, K.J., Cochran, G., Hicks, R.W., & Mueller, K.J., Journal of Rural Health, 20(4):335-43, 2004
  Describes the implementation of and initial findings from a voluntary medication error reporting program developed by the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research to overcome these barriers in six Nebraska critical access hospitals.