Diabetic retinopathy screening: a clinical quality improvement project.

BlueCross BlueShield on the Rochester Area (BCBSRA) initiated a clinical quality improvement project that increased its diabetic retinopathy screening rate from 42.8% in 1995 to 58.1% in 1997.

The necessary length of hospital stay for chronic pulmonary disease.

Objective: --To determine the necessary length of stay for patients admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of chronic pulmonary disease and to compare this with the length of stay assigned by the diagnosis related group system.

Design: --A cohort of patients were followed up prospectively after hospital admission to determine when complications, critical incidents, and the need for monitoring occurred. The medically derived necessary lengths of stay were statistically compared with the lengths of stay assigned by the diagnosis related group.