Pay-for-performance emphasis helps with smoking cessation

A study in the October 13 Archives of Internal Medicine found that programs that tie physician pay to quality of care were effective in helping patients quit smoking, the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog reports.

The key measure studied was clinics’ referrals of patients in Minnesota to a smoking cessation quit line. Researchers looked at clinics that were paid bonuses for making such referrals ($5,000 for 50 referrals and $25 for each referral beyond that) compared to those that didn’t have a financial incentive.

The clinics that were in the pay-for-performance program made 1,483 referrals to the quit line, an average of 11.4% of their patients who were smokers; the clinics that weren’t in the program made 441 referrals, an average of 4.2% of their smokers.

Click here to read more about the study and here to access the study.

Scotland: Medical errors kill thousands, cost millions

A government-funded study published in the Scottish Medical Journal that reviewed case notes of 354 patients found that 28 suffered adverse events, reports the Sunday Times. Ten percent of the study's identified errors were reported as adverse events in the hospital risk management program.

The research suggests that medical errors affect 50,000 patients at a cost of almost 300 million British pounds each year, according to the Times. Three of the 28 patients to suffer adverse events in the study died, two were permanently injured, and eight suffered moderate impairment.

The study brings new concerns over patient safety after recent medical errors, such as a 16-year old who received 19 doses of radiation at 58% more than necessary, have come into public light, reports the Times.

Aberdeen University in Scotland is trying to confront the problem with the county's first patient safety course aimed at healthcare workers.

To read more, click here.