This article describes a method for organizing and staffing a hospitalwide patient transportation system in such a way as to minimize patient waiting times. The method stems from a quality improvement project and includes a centralized communication system, a queuing model to determine staffing requirements, and a computerized data collection and monitoring system. A case study demonstrates imp...

PACIFIC COAST SURGICALASSOCIATION Comparing theNational Surgical Quality Improvement ProgramWith theNationwide Inpatient Sample Database Bothrawandrisk-adjustedoutcomesareincreasinglybeingmade publiclyavailable.1-3TheAmericanCollegeofSurgeonsNational Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) is heralded as themost robust database to examine surgical outcomes.However,enrollmentintheNSQIPisexp...

OF PATlENT RECORDHospital Discharge Survey

A review of the literature and analysis of the National Inpatient Sample Database was performed to describe the trends in vaginal birth after cesarean availability in the United States and the factors associated with changing use. Vaginal birth after cesarean increased after the first National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on Cesarean Childbirth in 1981. It increased from 3% to a ma...