More quality bang for your healthcare buck

The quality management department at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has designed a collaborative process that improves patient safety, is accountable to the public, and increases efficiency on the basis of sound data management. By forging strategic alliances between the quality, finance, and materials support services departments at the health system level, a quality economic business model was developed that led to greater efficiencies in length-of-stay management, improved resource utilization in critical care, and standardization of skin care products and equipment. This article describes these quality initiatives.