Value and Quality Innovations in Acute and Emergency Care

Book excerpt: Access to acute and emergency care is essential when we are ill or injured, but the costs are significant. How can we make services more efficient and effective? This thought-provoking text provides twenty case studies detailing successful innovations to enhance value, including telehealth, observation medicine, high utilizer programs, and the use of informatics to improve clinical decision support. A detailed history of system developments over the last fifty years in the US and internationally is provided, and subjects including measurement and quality improvement, volume versus value based care, and emergency department crowding are discussed. This book is an ideal way for emergency physicians and healthcare managers to explore new ideas and enhance the quality of care in their area.