Announcing AHEAD: a new service from the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries.

AHEAD is a bi-weekly email, designed for current and future healthcare decision-makers. AHEAD alerts you to new web resources, reports, articles and guidelines. Selected online resources cover topics like leadership, quality improvement, administration and patient safety.

The following is the first AHEAD alert and attached is a poster to promote AHEAD.

If you would like to subscribe, go to http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/umhsl-ahead, or contact MHIKNET at mhiknet@umanitoba.camailto:mhiknet@umanitoba.ca or 1-877-789-3804.

AHEAD Alert for Healthcare Decision-Makers A bi-weekly alert for healthcare decision-makers from the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries

UMHSL Resource:

Brand CM, Barker AL, Morello RT, et al. A Review of Hospital Characteristics Associated With Improved Performance.http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/umanitoba?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:22871420 Int J Qual Health Care. 2012; 8(1): 483-494. This review critically appraised 57 studies for associations between high-level structural and operational hospital characteristics and improved performance. Hospital characteristics that were investigated included environment (incentives, market characteristics), structure (network membership, ownership, teaching status, geographical setting, service size), and operational design (leadership, organizational culture, reporting, patient safety practices, info technology systems, decision support, staff training, etc).

Note: When you click on the article link, you will be asked to log in with your University of Manitoba staff, student, or Library ID and pin. Contact your nearest University of Manitoba Library if you require assistance.

Web Resource:

Forster AJ, Van Walraven C. The Use of Quality Indicators to Promote Accountability in Health Care: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.http://www.openmedicine.ca/article/view/497/465 Open Med. 2012; 6(2): [7 pgs]. This Canadian commentary from the online, peer-reviewed, open-access journal titled Open Medicine, discusses health care performance measurement considerations around hospital standardized mortality ration, all-cause urgent readmissions and ER department length of stay. Recommendations are given with regards to improving quality measurement.

If you have been forwarded this message and you wish to subscribe to the AHEAD Alert, go to: http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/umhsl-ahead

University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries http://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/health

[cid:image003.png@01CE19B9.D4A79640]

Orvie Dingwall, BA, MLIS, AHIP MHIKNET Librarian Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library University of Manitoba email: orvie_dingwall@umanitoba.camailto:orvie_dingwall@umanitoba.ca phone: 204.977.5660 cell: 204.227.5749 website: http://mhiknet.lib.umanitoba.ca/