Summary: Collaborative patient care models that empower the primary care nurse to communicate patient needs to physicians has not only improved patient care and outcomes but also fostered a cultural change at Hackensack University Medical Center, explains Lenore Blank, a nurse practitioner and administrative manager of HUMC's heart failure and pulmonary hypertension team. Her team is part of Pursuing Perfection, a healthcare quality initiative from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement. As HUMC creates the partnerships mandated by Pursuing Perfection, it is extending the knowledge and benefits they've gained with other organizations -- and reducing hospital readmissions in the process. Blank, Michelle Gilbert, Donna Isgett, and Leanne Huminski will describe how their organizations are implementing perfect care processes in heart failure and medication management with details on how they've implemented their programs and the results they are achieving during a August 22, 2007 audio conference, Pursuing Perfect Care: Improving Chronic Care Outcomes by Treating the Whole Patient.
