03/19/12

Monday, March 19, 2012

NIH Research Matters for March 19, 2012 organ transplants without lifelong drugs, surprises in the gorilla genome, and nanocomplexes used to label cells for MRI tracking


 

The March 19, 2012, NIH Research Matters is now available. In this week's edition:

 

Photo of pill box.A new method allowed kidney recipients to eventually stop taking harsh immune-suppressing drugs even though they'd received mismatched organs. The accomplishment may lead to more options for organ transplants.

Photo of a gorilla Researchers have completed a draft sequence of the gorilla genome. Their analysis reveals that people may be more closely related to gorillas than we realized.

 

Photo of a person in an MRI machine.Nanocomplexes can be used to label transplanted cells so they can be tracked by MRI, according to a new study. In the future, the technique might be used to monitor whether transplanted immune or stem cells reach their targets.

New CAHPS Podcast in Quality Improvement Series


CAHPS Logo: Surveys and Tools to Advance Patient-Centered Care

New CAHPS Podcast: Identifying Areas to Improve

The sixth podcast in a series focused on quality improvement features Donna Farley, Senior Health Policy Analyst and Co-lead, RAND CAHPS Team. Dr. Farley discusses how to identify specific areas to improve within your health care organization and how to develop an effective plan to accomplish your quality improvement goals.

Access this podcast (13:15) on the CAHPS Web site at https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/News-and-Events/Podcasts.aspx.

Check out the other podcasts in this series:

Advancing Quality Through Teamwork at Multiple Level (Audio): Marjie Harbrecht, CEO of HealthTeamWorks, discusses the benefits of expanding teamwork to include patients and families, health care practices, and medical neighborhoods.

The Role of Human Resources Staff in Improvement Efforts (Video): Wendy Leebov, President and CEO of Leebov Golde & Associates, discusses the key roles that human resources staff can play in advancing quality improvement in health care organizations.

The Role of Leadership in Improvement Efforts (Audio): Gregg Meyer, Senior Vice President of Massachusetts General Hospital and Physicians Organization and Director of the Edward P. Lawrence Center for Quality and Safety, discusses the importance of leadership to support quality improvement efforts.

Creating an Improvement Culture (Video): Patrick Jordan from Newton-Wellesley Hospital discusses the importance of having a positive organizational culture to support the hospital's commitment to improving patients' experiences with care.

The Case for Improving Patient Experience (Audio): Larry Morrissey from the Stillwater Medical Group discusses the value of and business case for improving patient experience.

 

NGC Update Service: March 19, 2012


National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)

March 19, 2012

New This Week

Guideline Synthesis

Guideline Summaries

British Committee for Standards in Haematology

European Association of Urology

National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health

National Heart Foundation of Australia

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)

Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario


Announcements

Health Awareness Topics - March 2012

NGC Spotlight

Visit the revised Hospital-Acquired Conditions page for evidence-based resources available on the NGC Web site to assist users in the prevention of the CMS-identified hospital-acquired conditions.

G-I-N North America Webinar

G-I-N North America is offering a free Webinar on March 29, 2012 at 1 pm (Pacific)/4 pm (Eastern) on the topic: AHRQ and NGC Approach to Addressing the IOM Standards: Implications for the North American Guideline Development Community. Vivian Coates, Project Director of the National Guideline Clearinghouse/National Quality Measures Clearinghouse and Vice President of ECRI Institute, and Jean Slutsky, Director of the Center for Outcomes and Evidence at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, will discuss their phased approach to the IOM Standards for Trustworthy Guidelines. They are also interested in feedback from members of the North American guideline community on how to best meet their needs as end users of the NGC. For more information contact: gladys.i.tom@kp.org, 1-510-414-7760, or 1-925-980-5951.

Conference News

The Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) Conference 2012, will be held August 22-25, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. Registration is now open.

NGC's Sister Resources

 

NQMC Update Service: March 19, 2012


National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC)

March 19, 2012


New This Week

Measure Summaries

Australian Council on Healthcare Standards


Announcements

Coming Soon

G-I-N North America Webinar

  • G-I-N North America is offering a free Webinar on March 29, 2012 at 1 pm (Pacific)/4 pm (Eastern) on the topic: AHRQ and NGC Approach to Addressing the IOM Standards: Implications for the North American Guideline Development Community. Vivian Coates, Project Director of the National Guideline Clearinghouse/National Quality Measures Clearinghouse and Vice President of ECRI Institute, and Jean Slutsky, Director of the Center for Outcomes and Evidence at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, will discuss their phased approach to the IOM Standards for Trustworthy Guidelines. They are also interested in feedback from members of the North American guideline community on how to best meet their needs as end users of the NGC. For more information contact: gladys.i.tom@kp.org, 1-510-414-7760, or 1-925-980-5951.

Conference News

  • The Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) Conference 2012, will be held August 22-25, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. Registration is now open.

Health Awareness Topics -- March 2012

Of interest this week:

How to Participate

  • Submit measures: Visit our Submit Measures page for information on how to submit your organization's measures.
  • Suggest a measure for possible inclusion: Submit your suggestions for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets that you would like to see included in NQMC.

NQMC Sister Resources