CURRENT RESEARCH AND NEWS

Brook Named 2008 TRUST Award Recipient

Robert H. Brook, MD, ScD, FACP, vice president of RAND Corporation and director of RAND Health, will receive HRET's 2008 TRUST Award. Established in 2003, the TRUST Award recognizes individuals who exhibit visionary leadership and symbolize HRET's commitment and desire to rebuild trust within health care organizations and with community partners. "Dr. Brook's groundbreaking work in the field of quality measurement and outcomes of care has paved the way for quality improvement initiatives as we know them today," said John Combes, MD, interim president of HRET. Brook will be honored at a reception on July 24, 2008, during the Health Forum/AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego. Read more about Dr. Brook and the TRUST Award.

Now Available: Community Health Assessment Toolkit

The Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) has introduced a unique, online Community Health Assessment Toolkit for hospitals and health systems. Designed by health care leaders, the Assessment Toolkit will help hospitals and health systems collect and provide information requested by the new Schedule H in IRS Form 990, which asks about assessing community health needs. But the Toolkit's broader value is helping to build upon hospitals' connections to their communities, and identifying and acting on priorities for improving wellness and access to care. The Toolkit is accessible to members of AHA, ACHI, and the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. For more information on the Community Health Assessment Toolkit, please go to www.assesstoolkit.org.

Report Published on Board Executive Sessions Survey

Results from a survey conducted by HRET and the Center for Healthcare Governance (the Center) about executive sessions are now available. The report reflects the results of the first in a series of online surveys conducted by the Center and HRET. The survey on boards' use of executive sessions yielded 350 returned responses, reflecting 240 CEOs of freestanding hospitals, 79 CEOs who are members of system boards, and 31 system CEOs. Overall, nearly 90 percent of boards surveyed have held at least one executive session in the past two years. Among those boards, most averaged between one and eight such sessions per year, with only 43 percent of CEOs indicating that such a session was routinely included in every board meeting agenda. Regarding the sensitivity of executive sessions, the overwhelming majority of CEOs indicated that performance evaluation and executive compensation were two of the subjects usually addressed in executive sessions. To view the full summary, click here.

Two New Learning Labs Join the HBPCC Consortium

The Hospital-Based Palliative Care Consortium (HBPCC), a program of HRET funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is pleased to announce the addition of two new learning labs to the program. The Massachusetts-based Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Baystate Medical Center join six up-and-running learning labs: the Connecticut Hospice, Branford, CT; Detroit Receiving Hospital, Detroit; Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA; Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA; St. John's Health System, Springfield, MO; and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh.

The HBPCC program provides a unique opportunity for organizations looking to implement or improve their palliative care services to learn best practices from other organizations. HBPCC helps hospitals develop palliative care services through interactions with organizations committed to high-quality end-of-life and palliative care. The no-fee program is funded by a grant from AHRQ. The location of learning labs throughout the United States minimizes travel costs.

For more information, visit www.hret.org/hret/programs/paloverview.html or contact Deb Bohr at dbohr@aha.org or 646-678-4280.

HRET Updates Charts Comparing Rapid HIV Tests

Manufacturers of some of the available rapid HIV antibody screening tests have recently lowered their prices as more hospitals are using them in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC now recommends that all adults be tested in any health care setting, expanding the recommendation that pregnant women with undocumented HIV status be tested when presenting to labor and delivery. By using rapid HIV tests in labor and delivery, prophylaxis can be given to both mother and child, reducing the rate of perinatal HIV transmission.

Inverness Medical Professional Diagnostic has lowered the list prices of Clearview HIV 1/2 STAT-PAK to $17.50 and Clearview COMPLETE HIV 1/2 to $18.50. Additionally, special pricing has been announced for public health programs that are recipients of CDC funds for expanded HIV testing. Uni-gold and STAT-PAK are priced at $8.00 and for COMPLETE the price is $9.00.

To view the charts, click here. To subscribe to HRET's Preventing Perinatal HIV Transmission: Field Update (e-mailed quarterly), send an e-mail to Jennifer Reiter at jreiter2@aha.org with the newsletter's title in the subject line.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

ACHI Audioconference: Tuesday, March 18

Join ACHI on Tuesday, March 18, at 1:00-2:00 p.m. CT (11:00-12:00 PT, 12:00-1:00 MT, 2:00-3:00 ET) for the audioconference "Show, Don't Tell: The Power of Storytelling in Communicating Community Initiatives," by Nancy Buono Cartwright, managing director of communications for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Learn key communications strategies to effectively engage internal and external audiences. Session details and registration can be found here.

ACHI Audioconference: Tuesday, April 15

Join ACHI on Tuesday, April 15, at 1:00-2:00 p.m. CT (11:00-12:00 PT, 12:00-1:00 MT, 2:00-3:00 ET) for the audioconference "Local Health Care Access Initiatives: Key Factors for Success," by Karen J. Minyard, PhD, executive director of the Georgia Health Policy Center at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. The audioconference will focus on case studies of three local initiatives that improved access to health care. Session details and registration can be found here.

New Column on ACHI Web site

Community Health Perspectives is a new occasional feature located on the ACHI Web site. ACHI member columnists reflect on trends they observe, their experiences in the field, interpretations of current data and recent reports, promising activities, and best practices. Members are invited to respond to the column and to converse with the author and each other in the member-only online discussion forum. To access the column, click here.

New Resources Available at www.hret.org

Presentations are now available from "Performance Improvement Is a Team Sport: Communication, Relationships, and Culture Change," the November 2007 Action Learning Lab at Singing River Hospital System in Mississippi. This innovative educational program told the story of how administrative leaders and frontline innovators at Singing River built a high-performance culture based on communication, quality, and community engagement. To view the learning lab presentations, click here.

Also available are free recordings of past HRET audioconferences, "Evidence-Based Management" and "Capital Financing in Health Care." To listen to these audioconferences, click here.

HRET FELLOWSHIPS

Limited Space Available for the 2008-2009 PSL Fellowship

HRET will be accepting applications for the 2008-2009 Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship class through March. The Fellowship program is a yearlong intensive learning experience focused on improving the organizational approach to and impact on patient safety. Fellows gain new skills, tools, and leadership capability to better engage staff and clinicians to create cultures of safety and provide highly reliable care. The Fellowship is cosponsored by HRET and the National Patient Safety Foundation, in partnership with Health Forum, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, the Society of Hospital Medicine, and the American Hospital Association. To apply, visit www.hretfellowships.org or call (312) 422-2625 to reserve your space.

RECENT ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS

Now Available: Articles on State Health Research and Policy

HSR has published Part II of a special collection of articles on state health research and policy. Volume I, Using State-Level Evidence to Inform Policy, focuses on unique methodologies and approaches, and Volume II, Evidence of Impact in State Initiatives to Improve Medicaid/SCHIP, addresses state-administered public programs as well as a broad range of other issues. Both volumes comprise the best state-level research and provide an introduction to inform local policy development. View articles at: www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/hesr.

Now Available: HSR February Issue

HSR's February issue includes medical and IT articles about assessing the impact of CPOE on medication errors, and the impact of organizational characteristics and registered nurse supply. The issue also includes a study in New York on whether high-quality cardiac surgeons are less likely to operate on high-risk patients compared to low-quality surgeons. Download the full table of contents at: www.hret.org/hret/publications/articlesabstracts.html