PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

News in brief - May 12, 2008

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality last month unveiled an online resource to help physicians, hospitals and others share innovative ways to improve the care they deliver.

The agency, part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, will profile successful interventions at the AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange Web site (www.innovations.ahrq.gov). One example of the 100 innovations now featured on the site is an intensive care unit's setting and adhering to daily care goals to successfully shorten patient stays.

"Sharing information about important new developments in methods of delivering effective health care is typically a hit-or-miss process," AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, said in a statement. "AHRQ's updated innovations exchange will encourage information sharing, reduce duplication and save time and money."

The site aims to include only "the best of the best" quality interventions, the agency said.