Miscellaneous News
Resource to Help Facilities Achieve Transformational Change
Implementing Change in Long Term Care offers suggestions and includes exercises, will help stimulate discussions and engage a wide range of staff to help plan, implement, and embrace important new initiatives to improve care. (May 09)
Access the Manual here | Access Case Studies here | Access Worksheets here
Diabetes Linked to Alzheimer's Risk
You've heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes. Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar. (April 09)
Read about the new research on diabetes and dementia
Heading off Chronic Conditions
The Commonwealth Fund Thursday unveiled its plan to make universal healthcare and significant healthcare savings a reality. The plan also targets the prevention of chronic conditions, which affect nearly all seniors, as a way to improve overall health quality nationwide. Nine out of 10 seniors have at least one chronic condition, and it is estimated that 75% of all healthcare spending goes toward treating these conditions. (April 09)
Access this important information on chronic conditions
Hospital Compare Website
WhyNotTheBest.org is a health care quality improvement resource that allows users to find and compare hospitals. Users can:
1. Find the top-performing hospitals in the country: View the top 1 percent of hospitals on key measures of health care quality.
2. Compare a hospital against its peers: Choose performance data by region, ownership, bed size, or hospital type. View and save data in a variety of formats.
3. Learn how to improve the quality of care and patient experience: Access case studies of successful strategies and tools.
American Dietetic Association President Rings the NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell
Photos and video of the event are on NASDAQ's Web site.