Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Quality Improvement With The Breast Center, Hannah Seelye

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

I spent the summer of 2019 interning at The Breast Center under Audra Flammang. She has a degree in communications and holds the position of Quality Assurance Administrator. She primarily works to ensure Joint Commission Quality Indicators are met and proper documentation of these indicators takes place. She communicates with the staff in weekly meetings about their ideas for quality improvement projects and necessary indicators for ongoing or upcoming projects. Her job also includes preparing case briefings for the weekly Breast Conference that occurs at Washington Regional.

During my internship, I was fortunate to learn a lot about radiology and …

Reducing Re-Hospitalizations Of Patients With Heart Failure At A Skilled Nursing Facility, Louis D'Onofrio Jr.

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Student Works

The purpose of this project was to introduce the quality improvement (QI) process to reduce re-hospitalization rates in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) in Stratford, Connecticut for patients having a diagnosis of heart failure (HF). After reviewing the data from the nursing facility for re-hospitalization rates over a three-month period, it was discovered that 22% of patients at the SNF were re-hospitalized within 30 days. Of this population of patients, 22.9% had a diagnosis or complication of HF, which is associated with the highest re-hospitalization rates. This QI project focused on HF education customized towards nursing and nursing assistant staff …

A Framework For Learning During An Honors Internship: Embold Health Inc., Haley Haldeman

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Embold Health Inc. is a health care analytics start-up company that identifies top performing providers using large data sets and clinically nuanced measurement. A comprehensive assessment of quality, appropriateness, and cost is what Embold Health delivers. Embold allows payers more control in choosing providers within their region. Being able to identify top provider behaviors through rigorous data driven measurement is significant both clinically and commercially; it provides the opportunity to increase value of care, decrease waste, and drive down cost.

Over the past year as an intern, I’ve had a first-hand look into the complexity that surrounds data driven health …