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Patient Safety Monitor Alert

This e-mail newsletter provides healthcare professionals with the latest patient safety news, while offering useful information on creating safer patient care environments and reducing medical errors.

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Patient Safety Monitor Alert

Issue 48, December 13, 2006

• IHI announces new "5 Million Lives" campaign

  The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has launched its latest national initiave, called...

• CMS releases final rule about use of restraints and seclusion

  CMS has released its final rule on the use of restraints and seclusion. The ruling, which will take...

• PA governor's health program targets hospital infection rate

  Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has announced his plan to make healthcare available to more...

Issue 12, March 22, 2006

• AHRQ launches quality improvement tool for states

  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has launched a new Web-based tool to help...

• Study: Culture change drives patient safety improvements

  A study of six different patient safety initiatives found that an overarching culture of safety at...

• New Harvard Med School program gives student view of patient’s experience

  A new program at Harvard medical school has third-year med students follow the same patients for a...

• Safety tips for patients

  An Arizona Republic column outlines tips caregivers can give patients to help with their own care.

Issue 10, March 8, 2006

• Lack of understanding puts immigrants at risk

  The lack of communication and cooperation between hospitals and non-English speaking immigrants was...

• NY hospital uses simulator to teach about patient safety

  North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital has acquired a patient simulator to help teach life-saving...

• WI bill to keep error data out of malpractice suits

  A Wisconsin bill would allow hospitals to use and analyze medical error data without exposing the...

• Patients should understand the med rec process

  A column in the Centre Daily Times explains the importance of medication reconciliation to...

Issue 9, March 1, 2006

• AHRQ seeks comments on Patient Safety Act

  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has placed the Patient Safety and Quality...

• Physician apology legislation gains steam in WI

  Physicians often worry that an apology to an injured patient could be construed as an admission of...

• Infection reporting legislation fails in WA

  Washington state legislation requiring hospitals to report infection data to the state failed on...

• Denver Post column advocates patient safety whistleblowers

  A business column in The Denver Post advocated for legislation protecting nurses who come forward...

Issue 8, February 22, 2006

• AMA agrees to standardize performance measures

  The American Medical Association (AMA) has signed an agreement with Congress to standardize...

• Language barriers still a patient safety concern

  The language barrier between physicians and non-English-speaking patients is a growing problem, but...

• Routine testing can help find spreading cancers

  As cancer patients survive longer with tumors, the chances of the cancer spreading to the brain...

• MN hospitals report more adverse events, fewer deaths through public reporting

  Public reporting in Minnesota has more hospitals reporting adverse events, but deaths associated...

Issue 7, February 15, 2006

• NQF releases patient safety framework

  The National Quality Forum (NQF) on Tuesday released a standardized classification system for...

• CA hospital to introduce interpreters via videoconference

  San Mateo (CA) Medical Center plans by the end of February to link with two other Northern...

• MN hospital cited by IHI for reducing patient death rate

  Unity Hospital of Fridley, MN, was highlighted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI...

• NPSF seeks awards submissions

  The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) seeks submissions for two new awards-the Socius Award...

Issue 6, February 8, 2006

• Decision-sharing not always positive for patients

  A new study shows that patients often have negative experiences when sharing in the decision-making...

• CO legislator pushes for mandatory infection reporting

  Colorado state legislator Bob McCluskey is pushing legislation to require the state’s...

• Medical records company dispute leads to lack of access

  A dispute between a medical records company and a client medical group resulted in the physicians...

Issue 5, February 1, 2006

• JCAHO announces medication reconciliation Sentinel Event

  The JCAHO released a new Sentinel Event Alert last week, citing continued problems with medication...

• Study: Cell phones help more than hurt in hospital

  A new study by the Yale School of Medicine shows that cell phones help to reduce medical errors by...

• OR hospitals to start voluntary error reporting

  Oregon is the latest state set to start voluntary reporting of medical errors. The state’s...

• Apologies may be protected in UT

  Utah legislators are mulling a bill to protect apologies by hospitals and physicians from liability...

Issue 2, February 27, 2006

• Applying Medical Staff Quality Incentives

  Last month, I wrote on the topic of providing quality incentives for physicians as part of a...