Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is an effective and safe method of caring for low-birthweight infants. This article describes the results of a health systems strengthening intervention in KMC involving 10 hospitals in Java, Indonesia. Implementation progress was measured with an instrument scoring hospitals out of 100. Hospital scores ranged from 28 to 85, with a mean score of 62.1. One hospital had...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) on breast-feeding initiation and duration overall and according to maternal education. DESIGN Quasi-experimental study using data from five states (Alaska, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio, Washington) that participated in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from 1999 to 2009. Using differences-in-differences mo...

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of quality of care (QoC) on patients' quality of life (QoL). In a cross-sectional study, two domains of QoC and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref questionnaire were combined to collect data from 1,059 pre-discharge patients in four accredited hospitals (ACCHs) and four non-accredited hospitals (NACCHs) in Saudi Arabia. Health and ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accreditation and hospital care practices on breastfeeding rates at 1 and 4 months. METHODS: All women who birthed in Queensland, Australia, from February 1 to May 31, 2010, received a survey 4 months postpartum. Maternal, infant, and hospital characteristics; pregnancy and birth complications; and infant feeding ...

This is the first of a series of upcoming articles which will focus on the Joint Comnmission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) standards relative to quality assurance in anesthesia services. In this article, the author explains the JCAH standards' impact on anesthesia services. Future articles will utilize case examples of how individual anesthesia departments have improved patient care thro...

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between compliance with hospital accreditation and length of stay (LOS) and acute readmission (AR). DESIGN A nationwide population-based follow-up study from November 2009 to December 2012. SETTING Public, non-psychiatric Danish hospitals. PARTICIPANTS In-patients admitted with one of 80 diagnoses. INTERVENTION Accreditation by the first version of T...

Professional standards of laboratory practice are partially derived from regulatory and accreditation standards of the federal government as well as those of non-government organizations and professional societies. These standards are monitored by on-site inspection and encompass personnel standards, patient test management requirements, quality control and assurance standards and proficiency t...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accreditation and hospital care practices on breastfeeding rates at 1 and 4 months. METHODS: All women who birthed in Queensland, Australia, from February 1 to May 31, 2010, received a survey 4 months postpartum. Maternal, infant, and hospital characteristics; pregnancy and birth complications; and infant feeding ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accreditation and hospital care practices on breastfeeding rates at 1 and 4 months. METHODS: All women who birthed in Queensland, Australia, from February 1 to May 31, 2010, received a survey 4 months postpartum. Maternal, infant, and hospital characteristics; pregnancy and birth complications; and infant feeding ...