2020 Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting: Updated Acute Care Reporting Rates

In our recent article summarizing 2020 data from acute care facilities in Pennsylvania, reporting rates and fall rates were provided for Q1 and Q2 2020 based on the latest data we had available at the time of publication. Given that 2020 was an unpredictable year in healthcare, any forecasting of rates for Q3 and Q4 2020 would have been unreliable. Therefore, this data snapshot serves to complete reporting rates for 2020 now that all hospital patient days and surgical encounters data from 2020 have been made available for rate calculations.

Ask - Adapt - Collaborate: An Approach to Individualizing Acute Care for People with Dementia

People with dementia comprise a growing share of the hospital patient population, often receiving care in medical, surgical and critical care units as opposed to behavioral health settings. Dementia confers a greater reliance on familiar people, stimuli and surroundings to support physical and cognitive function.

Dining On Call: Outcomes of a hospital patient dining model

Dining On Call (DOC) is a hospital foodservice model allowing patients to order meals any time throughout the day and is delivered within 45 minutes of the order. It is positively correlated with patient satisfaction, improvements in malnutrition, and reducing costs. Pre- and post-DOC data were collected from BC Children’s Hospital, BC Women’s Hospital, and North York General Hospital (NYGH) using patient satisfaction surveys and tray waste audits to measure outcomes. Patient satisfaction scores increased at all hospitals. BC Children’s and Women’s hospitals demonstrated reductions in tray waste, food cost/meal/day, and labour cost/meal/day post-DOC. North York General Hospital observed decreases in tray waste; however, food cost/meal/day and labour cost/meal/day increased post-DOC. This research provides convincing evidence into the achievable benefits associated with DOC on mother and paediatric units in hospital settings. DOC may prove to be an effective dining model for hospitals seeking to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs.