In-hospital mortality among rural Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction: the…

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Quality of care for myocardial infarction in rural and urban hospitals.

J Rural Health. 2010;26(1):51-7

Authors: Baldwin LM, Chan L, Andrilla CH, Huff ED, Hart LG

In the mid-1990s, significant gaps existed in the quality of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) care between rural and urban hospitals. Since then, overall AMI care quality has improved. This study uses more recent data to determine whether rural-urban AMI quality gaps have persisted.

PMID: 20105268 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Patient safety outcomes in small urban and small rural hospitals.

J Rural Health. 2010;26(1):58-66

Authors: Vartak S, Ward MM, Vaughn TE

To assess patient safety outcomes in small urban and small rural hospitals and to examine the relationship of hospital and patient factors to patient safety outcomes.

PMID: 20105269 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Implementing patient safety initiatives in rural hospitals.

J Rural Health. 2009;25(4):352-7

Authors: Klingner J, Moscovice I, Tupper J, Coburn A, Wakefield M

Implementation of patient safety initiatives can be costly in time and energy. Because of small volumes and limited resources, rural hospitals often are not included in nationally driven patient safety initiatives. This article describes the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration project, whose goal was to strengthen capacity for patient safety initiatives in 8 small Tennessee rural hospitals using a multi-organizational collaborative model. The demonstration identified and facilitated implementation of 3 patient safety interventions: the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety culture survey, use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), and sharing of emergency room protocols. The experience suggested that a collaborative model between rural hospitals, a payer, a hospital association, a quality improvement organization, and academic institutions can effectively support patient safety activities in rural hospitals. Successful implementation of the 3 patient safety interventions depended on leadership provided by nursing and patient safety/quality managers and open, trusting communications within the hospitals.

PMID: 19780914 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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