The impact of opening visitation access on patient and family experience.

Restrictive visiting hours have been an obstacle to family participation in care. To support increased and consistent access to patients, Baylor Health Care System implemented a system-wide approach to open access for visitation across all facilities. Nursing and medical leadership led the communication efforts, and shared nursing governance guided revisions to existing policies. Data collected from 13 hospitals demonstrated that patients and families felt more informed; that the nursing staff were more courteous and respectful and explained things in a way that could be understood; that the staff attitude toward visitors was markedly improved; and that comfort and accommodations for guests were extended and improved. The resources needed to deploy these changes are outlined as well as the iterative process needed to create a positive impact on the family partnership in care.

Lessons learned from implementation of postdischarge telephone calls at Baylor Health Care System.

Postdischarge telephone calls can enhance patient satisfaction, outcomes, and care continuity. The authors describe the Dallas-Fort Worth-based Baylor Health Care System standardized process for placing emergency department discharge telephone calls to patients. The metrics and guidelines related to the process as well as lessons learned, models of care, the future state of the postdischarge telephone calls, and findings are discussed.

Risk factor outcome comparison between exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation, traditional care, and an educational workshop.

BACKGROUND: This study examined risk factor outcomes among patients who attended cardiac rehabilitation sessions, those who received traditional care, and those who attended Leap for Life workshops. METHODS: A non-equivalent, three-group design was used in this observational study. Baseline and 12-month measurements were collected for 217 participants. Analysis of covariance was performed to determine differences between groups on outcome variables. RESULTS: The only significant finding was in participants with an initial high-density lipoprotein value of less than 40. High-density lipoprotein levels increased more in the cardiac rehabilitation group than in the traditional care group (30.54 to 37.48 versus 30.17 to 33.67 [F= 4.577, p = .035]). CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, a strong case can be made for the transition to more individually intense and focused risk factor modification strategies for patients in cardiac rehabilitation programs.