Patient Safety

Physician autonomy must be balanced with team-based standardization

harminka — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:17:07 -0600

Despite increased emphasis on patient safety, little progress has been made in making hospitals safer, says Johns Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., in an article in the Dec. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Prescription for patient safety

harminka — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:50:32 -0600

A major reform of the way that NHS hospitals pay for legal liability insurance has led to improvements in patient safety, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Surgical Checklist for Patient Safety

Armen Hareyan — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:56:53 -0500

When a pilot sits in the cockpit, she methodically goes through a checklist of all systems and equipment before the plane is fired up. Even if the pilot has flown that plane and route 1000 times, the items on the checklist are reviewed one by one and no-one would think of flying the plane without completing the checklist.

Treating safety research like other clinical studies slows progress

harminka — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:12:11 -0500

Progress in patient safety research could slow to a crawl unless regulators work out a host of ethical issues, Johns Hopkins researchers assert in an upcoming opinion piece.

" Distinguished Hospital for Patient Safety"

seher — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:11:34 -0500

Lawton Comanche County Memorial Hospital was named a 2008 " Distinguished Hospital for Patient Safety," according to the fifth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study.

Saint Luke's care tops Kansas City area rankings

Armen Hareyan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:14:59 -0500

Patient satisfaction surveys reveal Saint Luke's metro facilities provide best hospital experience.

Top-performing hospitals have 43 percent lower incidence rate

harminka — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:53:10 -0500

Patient safety incidents cost the federal Medicare program $8.8 billion and resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths during 2004 through 2006, according to HealthGrades' fifth annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study.

Celebrity Patients Need Privacy Too

Armen Hareyan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:48:30 -0500

It seems that Britney Spears was not the only celebrity patient medical records of whom were improperly accessed and by the hospital employees. Recent privacy breaches at UCLA Medical Center have brought the issue of the privacy of patient medical records to national attention.

WHO launches global patient safety challenge in 43 countries

harminka — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:00:44 -0500

An open-access commentary in the December 2007 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology examines a recently launched a global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat healthcare-associated infection by improving hand hygiene in health care.

Microsoft Helps To Improve Efficiency of Clinical User Interfaces With Free Toolkit

harminka — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:59:02 -0500

Healthcare developers will be able to increase patient safety and clinician effectiveness with the new Microsoft® Health Common User Interface (CUI), available today from Microsoft Corp. The guidance and software code are available to download at no cost, and are designed to support the delivery of safe patient care across a healthcare system.

Communication of patient information in hospitals warrants rethink

harminka — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:42:22 -0500

The handover of patient information during nursing shift changes is a key area under investigation in a national effort to improve patient safety in hospitals.

National quality agenda cares integration keys to improving quality, patient safety

harminka — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:37:39 -0500

Government support for reforms deemed critical; health information technology, public quality reporting, pay for performance seen as effective strategies