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Report: Purchasers have not yet reached their potential to influence quality
United Kingdom warns hospitals of MRI dangers
Former psychiatric patient faces charges for deadly fire

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, May 20, 2003

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REPORT: PURCHASERS HAVE NOT YET REACHED THEIR POTENTIAL TO INFLUENCE QUALITY

Even though purchasers-such as large employers-could heavily affect health care quality through their market power, many experts don't believe that they are having much of an impact yet.

As part of a new study, researchers surveyed 57 experts-including employers, insurance company and health plan executives, professional and consumer organizations, federal and state government workers, academic researchers, and health care consultants-on issues related to "value based purchasing." Value-based purchasing refers to a trend in which purchasers use their influence to promote patient safety in health care organizations through methods such as choosing providers based on quality data.

The respondents' mean answer to whether value-based purchasing is having a high impact on health care quality and safety was 4.3 on a scale of 1-9. However, when rating the potential impact of value-based purchasing, respondents gave a mean answer of 7.8.

Authors of the report suggest that tactics such as developing uniform performance measures and clearly establishing the relationship between cost and quality in health care may increase purchasers' leverage on patient safety.

Go to http://www.cmwf.org/programs/quality/goldfarb_healthcarepurchasing_ib_635.pdf to read the study, "How Does Quality Enter Into Health Care Purchasing Decisions?" or go to http://www.cmwf.org/programs/quality/maio_valuebased_636.pdf to read a companion study, "Value-Based Purchasing: A Review of the Literature."

UNITED KINGDOM WARNS HOSPITALS OF MRI DANGERS

Following two risky incidents, officials warned hospitals across the United Kingdom (UK) to check the venting systems in their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, according to the [UK] Press Association Limited.

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency last week alerted hospitals that the scanners use liquid helium at temperatures as low as -273C, or absolute zero, which could turn into a freezing gas expelled through external vents if a malfunction occurs.

In one incident, ice from outside rainwater blocked a vent and forced the gas into an examination room patients used. In the other incident, a venting pipe was too narrow, which could have caused pressure from gas buildup and the potential of a rupture. The combination of lack of oxygen and extreme cold caused by gas escaping into the room could have killed patients and staff. Neither hospital was identified in the alert, the Press Association noted.

FORMER PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT FACES CHARGES FOR DEADLY FIRE

A former psychiatric patient at Greenwood Health Center in Hartford, CT faces 16 counts of arson murder and one count of arson for allegedly starting the fatal February blaze that killed 16 of the facility's residents, reported the Associated Press (AP) last week.

The 23-year-old woman could receive life in prison if convicted. The former resident reportedly told police in February that the fire started while she was flicking a lighter in bed. However, test results from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives revealed that the bed sheets could not have caught fire immediately, and that the lighter was held to them, according to the AP.

Following the incident, State Senator Edith Prague planned to advocate for legislation that would prevent the placement of psychiatric patients in nursing homes. A bill has also been proposed that requires all Connecticut nursing homes to have sprinkler systems, reported the AP.

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