Development and Feasibility Testing of a Device Briefing Tool and Training to Improve Patient Safety During Introduction of New Devices in Operating Rooms: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

Background: Introducing new surgical devices into the operating room (OR) can serve as a critical opportunity to address patient safety. The effectiveness of OR briefings to improve communication, teamwork, and safety has not been evaluated in this setting.

Methods: Ariadne Labs and Johnson and Johnson (J&J) collaborated to develop and assess an intervention including a Device Briefing Tool (DBT) and novel multidisciplinary team training for clinicians (surgeons and nurses) around the introduction of a new device in the OR.

Quality Improvement in Ambulatory Surgery Centers: A Major National Effort Aimed at Reducing Infections and Other Surgical Complications.

Background: Surgical volume has shifted significantly from inpatient to outpatient settings, including free-standing ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Approaches to quality improvement (QI) and surveillance used in hospitals are not always appropriate to the ambulatory setting.

Methods: We recruited 665 ASCs in 47 US states to participate in an intervention to improve safe practice through implementation of a surgical safety checklist and infection control practices.

HIV and Hepatitis C Virus Screening Practices in a Geographically Diverse Sample of American Community Health Centers.

Because of the advent of highly effective treatments, routine screening for HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been recommended for many Americans. This study explored the perceived barriers surrounding routine HIV and HCV screening in a diverse sample of community health centers (CHCs). The Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) is a collaboration of CHCs, with a shared clinical database.

Results of the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) National Research Capacity Survey of Community Health Centers.

Background: The mission of the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) is to build capacity to carry out Patient-Centered Outcomes Research at community health centers (CHCs), with the ultimate goal to improve health care for vulnerable populations.

Objectives: The CHARN Needs Assessment Staff Survey investigates CHCs' involvement in research, as well as their need for research training and resources. Results will be used to guide future training.

Do ask, do tell: high levels of acceptability by patients of routine collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data in four diverse American community health centers.

Background: The Institute of Medicine and The Joint Commission have recommended asking sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions in clinical settings and including such data in Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This is increasingly viewed as a critical step toward systematically documenting and addressing health disparities affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The U.

Building research infrastructure in community health centers: a Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) report.

This article introduces the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN), a practice-based research network of community health centers (CHCs). Established by the Health Resources and Services Administration in 2010, CHARN is a network of 4 community research nodes, each with multiple affiliated CHCs and an academic center. The four nodes (18 individual CHCs and 4 academic partners in 9 states) are supported by a data coordinating center.