Neurosurgeons and hospitalists are turning to comanagement arrangements to address medical problems in surgical patients. Compared with traditional medical consultation, comanagement lets the hospitalist share authority and responsibility for patient…
Neurosurgery journals have played an active role in improving the quality of the neurosurgical literature. This role has expanded to improve the quality of care by incorporating an evidence-based view…
Although it is intuitive that any neurosurgeon would seek to consistently apply the best available evidence to patient management, the application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles and clinical practice guidelines…
Health care evolution has led to focused attention on clinical outcomes of care. Surgical disciplines are increasingly asked to provide evidence of treatment efficacy. As the technological advances push the…
Despite rising and unsustainable US health care costs, many stakeholders feel that the quality of medical services is limited and inconsistent. Value-based reforms are touted as the key to achieving…
Widespread adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) in the United States is transforming the practice of medicine from a paper-based cottage industry into an integrated health care delivery system. Most…
Improving the quality and efficiency of surgical techniques, reducing technical errors in the operating suite, and ultimately improving patient safety and outcomes through education are common goals in all surgical…
There has been no formal, standardized curriculum for neurosurgical resident education in quality improvement. There are at least 2 reasons to integrate a formalized quality improvement curriculum into resident education:…
The US health care system is currently undergoing a paradigm shift from pay-for-service toward pay-for-performance reimbursement, with a focus on quality measures and patient satisfaction. An important tool gaining increasing…
For a variety of neurosurgical conditions, increasing surgeon and hospital volumes correlate with improved outcomes, such as mortality, complication rates, length of stay, hospital charges, and discharge disposition. Neurosurgeons can…
