Strategies

Use visual tools to prompt safe practices, standardize communication, and ensure no step is forgotten before, during, or after a medical procedure or other health care situation

Make clinician, hospital, clinic, long-term care facility, and insurance plan performance on health care quality measures publicly available via report cards, reporting websites, or similar tools

Make health care facilities’ health care-associated or hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates readily available to patients and providers

Establish clinics in retail stores that provide basic services for minor illnesses (e.g., sore throats or skin conditions) and procedures (e.g., immunizations, pregnancy testing, routine lab tests); also known as retail pharmacy, walk-in, or convenient care clinics

Conduct individual assessments that gauge older adults’ risk of falling and develop personalized approaches to help prevent falls

Provide health care services on school premises to attending elementary, middle, and high school students; physical and mental health services provided by teams of nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians

Establish state level regulations that require nursing homes to employ at least a set number of licensed and non-licensed nursing staff, often set in terms of staff hours per resident day

Deliver consultative, diagnostic, and treatment services remotely, especially for patients who live in areas with limited access to care or who experience transportation or mobility barriers; sometimes called telehealth

Provide mental health care services (e.g., psychotherapy or counseling) via telephone or videoconference

Provide reminders, education, or self-management assistance for health conditions, especially chronic diseases, via text message