Applying quality improvement tools to quality planning: pediatric femur fracture clinical path development.
Quality improvement tools that integrate clinical and financial data provide a statistical basis for quality planning and cost containment. Clinical path development results in an operational guideline for optimizing quality and efficiency. Implementation provides the means for delivering value. This article describes a step-by-step process in which quality improvement tools were used to develop a pediatric femur fracture clinical path at the author's hospital.
Gallagher
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Children's Hospital and Health Center, San Diego, CA.
D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D010934:Planning Techniques; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D016730:Program Development