RUSH University Medical Center has again been named one of the nation's top hospitals, securing a spot on U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious Best Hospitals Honor Roll for the sixth straight year.
Specifically, Rush consistently ranks among the country's best in terms of Quality. Rush was ranked No. 2 in the country in Vizient’s 2024 Quality and Accountability Study, the only hospital rating system that relies solely on patient outcome data for all inpatients. The study compares hospitals in six areas of care: safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, patient centeredness and equity of care. This is the 11th consecutive year Rush has earned the distinction of being among the top 10 for inpatient care, and Rush is one of only two Illinois academic medical centers on Vizient’s Top 10 list for 2024. Rush also ranked fifth in the Vizient Ambulatory Quality and Accountability Award, which measures the quality of outpatient care in five domains: access to care, continuum of care, quality, efficiency and equity. In fact, over the last 5 years, Rush is one of only three hospitals in the nation which have achieved all of the following:
- Been named to the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll
- Earned five stars from the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare evaluations
- Earned straight A’s on Leapfrog’s Quality and Safety report card
- Been in the top 10 in Vizient’s Quality and Accountability Study
At RUSH, we aim to provide the highest quality, most efficient, safest, cost-conscious care possible. We continually evaluate and re-evaluate our processes of care, including transitions of care, handoffs, algorithms, use of pharmaceuticals, hospital-acquired infections and injuries, safety events, workplace safety, multidisciplinary communications systems, and many other aspects of healthcare.
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Track
Through the RUSH Internal Medicine Residency two year Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Track, participating residents will have special guidance on a specific project of their choosing from mentors who are enthusiastic and who have access to resources, data, and statistical help. The track spans the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years of residency.
During the first (PGY-2) year of the track, residents (usually working in pairs) will develop and implement a QI project under faculty supervision. We’ll review how to identify problems, how to do a root cause analysis, and how create an impactful intervention. Projects will be designed to directly improve patient care, satisfy the residency program requirement for scholarship, and ideally lead to nationally presented abstracts and publication in peer reviewed journals.
In the second (PGY-3) year of the track, residents will participate in a “Safety Rotation” where they will have the opportunity to work alongside hospital patient safety leadership (while also having time to finish up your project), gain deeper insight into hospital operations, and participate in hospital-level event review processes. This will allow you to gain first-hand experience seeing and understanding the broader organizational efforts to improve safety and quality on a global level.
This track is an ideal adjunct to the core of internal medicine training for any residents interested in academic hospital medicine, hospital administration, quality and safety, healthcare business analytics, or even any subspecialty fellowship.
Quality improvement driven by residents
So far, our track residents have been involved in number of QI projects on various subjects, including:
- Transfusion reduction and blood utilization optimization
- Reduction of telemetry usage on GMF
- Improving AAA screening in outpatient clinics
- Reduction of TTE orders during the workup of syncope
- Optimization of oxygen utilization on GMF
- Antibiotic time-out/antibiotic stewardship
- Reducing unnecessary Flu/RPP testing
- Improving AVS discharge communication
- Improving feedback on GMF
- Reducing unnecessary testing in pre-op clinic
- Improving colorectal cancer screening in RUI clinics
- Improving nightfloat handoff process
- Reducing unnecessary ICU admissions
- Improving outpatient continuity in resident clinic
- Creating a post-code debrief culture
- Reducing daily blood draws on GMF
- Optimizing the management of hyperglycemia on GMF
- Improving resident understanding of post-acute care placement options
Many of these projects have resulted in significant cost savings, improvements in patient safety/flow, and also have been presented in local/regional forums, as well as at national conferences.