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Patient Safety Monitor Insider

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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Issue 52, December 30, 2009

• Editor's Pick of the Week: Suicide risk assessment audio conference

  Assess your patients for suicide risk Join...

• Introducing Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor. This online...

• Video monitoring in the operating room poses many new issues

  As digital video technology has developed, so too has the chance to use that technology in the...

• California collaborative aims to help elders' transitions from hospital to home

  The California Discharge Planning Committee (CDPC) recently launched a multicultural campaign to...

• Patient Safety Monitor Blog’s top 7 posts of 2009

  The Patient Safety Monitor Blog take a look back at the seven blog posts that garnered the most...

Issue 51, December 23, 2009

• Check out the Patient Safety Monitor Demo

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor. This online...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

• Temp agencies do poor job of verifying nurse credentials

  Temporary nursing agencies that supply the nation’s short-staffed hospitals with nurses often...

• HHS announces $60 million available in HIT grants

  The Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it will be awarding $60...

• Study: Surgical site infections can add $60,000 to patient’s treatment

  During a recent study, surgical patients who contracted a surgical site infection (SSI) because of...

• Study: Inpatients often unsure of which medications they are taking

  A study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that hospitalized patients are often...

Issue 50, December 16, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Suicide Risk Assessment audio conference

  Assess your patients for suicide risk Join HCPro on Thursday, January 14 at 1 p.m. (Eastern) for...

• Download free tool from Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor.

• AHRQ offers ten tips for keeping patients safe

  For those hospitals looking for a concise list of actions to take to prevent adverse events and...

• Massachusetts rule prohibiting ambulance diversion does not increase ED wait times

  Massachusetts public health officials have analyzed the state's new policy stipulating that...

• VHA examination of surgical errors find poor communication most common culprit

  Poor communication was the most common cause of wrong-site, -side, and -person, surgeries at the...

• Patient safety grants available for interested healthcare organizations

  There is $25 million available in grants from the federal government for improving patient safety...

Issue 49, December 9, 2009

• INQRI blog hosts two-week series in observance of "To Err is Human" anniversary

  The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) blog, a resource for nursing and...

• Should physicians be given an incentive to prevent readmissions?

  Although Congress and President Barack Obama are considering incentives for hospitals to...

• Stand-alone emergency departments proving successful in some areas

  Illinois has become home to a new type of facility for treating emergency patients—the...

• Check out Patient Safety Monitor demo

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor. This online...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

Issue 48, December 2, 2009

• Introducing Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor.

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effective Process Management book

  The book Effective Process Management: Improving Your Healthcare Delivery shows you how to identify...

• "Big Brother" may be keeping watch on patient safety practices

  Maryland is using some of its funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for...

• Pharmacists’ abilities often underutilized by patients

  Although pharmacists' extensive knowledge of medications and how they work may be understood by...

• Including family members in rounds can benefit patients, care team

  Involving families in patients' care can improve family satisfaction as well as the standard of...

• In the ten years since "To Err is Human," has patient safety been improved?

  November 2009 marked the ten year anniversary since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its...

Issue 47, November 25, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effective Process Management

  Don't let the processes in your facility be anything less than perfect. The book Effective Process...

• Introducing Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor.

• Study: Involving pharmacists in discharge process may not reduce rehospitalization rate

  A study published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine found that involving pharmacists in the...

• Study: Burnout, depression affect likelihood of American surgeons committing errors

  Some surgeons are likely to commit medical errors if they are suffering from burnout and...

• How much money is HIT really saving? Not much, according to a new study

  As the government continues to focus on promoting the implementation of health information...

Issue 46, November 18, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: National Patient Safety Goals Calculator, 2010

  Don't stress about your hospital's success on survey day—HCPro’s updated automated data...

• Introducing Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor.

• National Quality Forum creates standardized set of data for electronic health records

  The National Quality Forum (NQF), under a contract from the Agency for Healthcare Research and...

• Press Ganey report: Patient satisfaction increasing across the country

  Patient satisfaction is on the rise, according to Press Ganey's annual Hospital Pulse Report. The...

• Connecticut hospitals reporting fewer adverse events; many go uninvestigated

  Members of the public in the state of Connecticut are being increasingly kept in the dark about...

Issue 45, November 11, 2009

• Editor's Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

• Introducing Patient Safety Monitor!

  HCPro is proud to announce its latest patient safety product: Patient Safety Monitor. This online...

• Cedars-Sinai offers to pay patients’ further medical costs for overexposure to radiation

  After admitting last month it delivered radiation via CT scans to patients at eight times the...

• Survey: Patients think healthcare is better if they are told about errors

  A study published in the November 9 Archives of Internal Medicine reveals that hospital staff...

• Diagnosis errors: No easy fix

  Physicians are responsible for one of the most complicated and important decisions in...

Issue 44, November 4, 2009

• RI hospital commits fifth wrong-site surgery since January 2007

  Staff members at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI, have committed the facility's fifth...

• Tamiflu ® shortage sparks dosing confusion at some facilities

  The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has issued an advisory regarding the use of Tamiflu in...

• New, more deadly strain of MRSA found

  A new strain of MRSA has been found that is five more times as deadly as other strains and infects...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: National Patient Safety Goals Calculator

  Ensure your hospital's success on survey day Don't stress about your hospital's success on survey...

• Follow Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter!

  Are you following the Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter? If you are a Twitter user, look for us at...

Issue 43, October 28, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week- Effective Process Management: Improving Your Healthcare Delivery

  Don't let the processes in your facility be anything less than perfect. The book Effective Process...

• Medical Liability and Patient Safety Reform Committee meets for first time

  The initial meeting of the Subcommittee on Patient Safety and Medical Liability Reform...

• EMR data also being used to improve quality, reduce costs

  As more facilities switch to electronic medical records (EMR), many are finding an unanticipated...

• CA hospital forced to reduce wait times in anticipation of H1N1 patient surge

  County officials forced Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center to reduce its wait times by...

• HHS awards $17 million to projects dedicated to preventing healthcare-associated infections

  Last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it awarded $17 million to...

Issue 42, October 21, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: HCAHPS Basics Resource Guide

  Reporting HCAHPS scores is necessary for full reimbursement, but these public results of patient...

• Follow Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter!

  Are you following the Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter? If you are a Twitter user, look for us at...

• Awareness, safety drills help prevent fire in the OR

  Recently released data from the ECRI Institute show that about 550 surgical fires happen each year...

• Should physicians be required to take cultural competency courses?

  It's widely reported that racial and ethnic minorities receive less comprehensive healthcare than...

• Online tool helps potential H1N1 patients decide if they should visit hospital

  Microsoft has created an online tool to help alleviate some of the burden felt by hospitals that...

Issue 41, October 14, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effectively Managing Patient Education

  If you want to build a comprehensive patient education program, or improve your current program...

• Los Angeles hospital admits to radiation errors

  Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, has found that it accidentally administered...

• Washington State Department of Health to investigate lack of reported medical errors

  Washington is one of the only states in the nation to require mandatory reporting of medical...

• Study: Large variance in quality at U.S. hospitals

  The Twelfth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study shows that a large gap exists...

• October celebrates Health Literacy Month, National Healthcare Quality Week

  The month of October brings us two health-related events to celebrate: Health Literacy Month and...

Issue 40, October 7, 2009

• First Americans received H1N1 vaccine Monday

  The first recipients of the H1N1 vaccine in the United States on Monday were healthcare workers in...

• Costlier healthcare not always better

  More expensive patient care is not synonymous with better patient outcomes, reports The Wall Street...

• The sleep factor: Do less tired physicians deliver safer care?

  The debate on whether reducing the number of hours that graduate medical students can work...

• Joint Commission releases 2010 National Patient Safety Goals

  The Joint Commission released the 2010 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) last week, announcing...

• Editor's Pick of the Week: j-mail, 2010 Edition

  Take your survey prep to a new level. j-mail, 2010 Edition: Tools for Ongoing Joint Commission...

Issue 39, September 30, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: J-mail survey prep tool

  Take your survey prep to a new level. j-mail, 2010 Edition: Tools for Ongoing Joint Commission...

• Study: Medical errors may not increase during July, contrary to popular belief

  A study published in the September 2009 Journal of the American College of Surgeons has concluded...

• New York health system offers physicians large incentive to make patient records digital

  New York's North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System announced recently that it will pay each of...

• Oncology groups release standards for safe administration of chemotherapy

  On September 28, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Oncology Nursing...

• Joint Commission announces first heart failure advanced certification

  The Joint Commission has awarded Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL its first...

Issue 38, September 23, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: HCAHPS Basics

  HCAHPS spells worry for many hospitals. Reporting HCAHPS scores is necessary for full...

• Follow Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter!

  Are you following the Patient Safety Monitor on Twitter? If you are a Twitter user, look for us at...

• Apologetic physicians earn higher rankings, but still may be sued

  A recent study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that physicians who were...

• Winners of the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award announced

  The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum announced the 2009 winners of the John M. Eisenberg...

• NQF endorses set of measures to improve medication safety

  The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed a set of 18 measures to better manage...

Issue 37, September 16, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Quality Data Conference

  Are you overwhelmed by healthcare data...

• Patients of the future will demand increased communication, be more informed consumers

  In the future, healthcare providers can expect more informed patients who want their care team...

• IHI launches Improvement Map Online Tool

  The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has launched the online component of its Improvement...

• More facilities looking to telehealth for improving care

  Once a novelty that few hospitals utilized, telemedicine is now becoming more common, reports...

• Electronic alerts may prevent substantial number of prescribing errors

  Electronic alerts were found to have had a significant impact on the number of potential...

Issue 36, September 9, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Accurately capture data and illustrate improvement at your organization. Implementing an effective...

• South Carolina Hospital Association develops creative hand hygiene campaign

  In an effort to boost proper hand hygiene practices in one of its member hospitals, the South...

• Patients want more access to physicians via e-mail, possibly social media

  Patients want more convenient access to their physicians, and that increasingly means communication...

• AHRQ releases version 1.0 of Common Formats

  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released version 1.0 of its Common...

• David Blumenthal releases personal message about importance of HIT

  David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for Health Information Technology, recently released a...

Issue 35, September 2, 2009

• Improving efficiency, reducing waste are keys to safe, quality patient care

  The healthcare industry has maintained for years that it is unlike others simply because caring for...

• IOM asks that racial and ethnic patient information be noted in EMRs

  The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has asked the Office of the National Coordinator for Health...

• JAMA commentary: Patient safety priority list would help improve outcomes

  A recent commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association calls for a list of patient...

• New Jersey law makes hospital errors more transparent to public

  New Jersey joins a list of states that by law requires hospitals to provide information about...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Process Management Seminar

  Move from process improvement to PROCESS MANAGEMENT...

Issue 34, August 26, 2009

• Patients infected during colonoscopies are suing VA

  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expects to be fielding lawsuits for negligent handling of...

• H1N1 could infect half of U.S. population

  A presidential panel estimated on Monday that half of the U.S. population could be infected with...

• AHRQ says that more patients are leaving against medical advice

  More news from the AHRQ- this time, however, patients may be acting as a threat to themselves. An...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Process Management Seminar

  Move from process improvement to PROCESS MANAGEMENT...

Issue 33, August 19, 2009

• NYTimes op-ed discusses how to lower costs, increase quality in American healthcare

  To boost quality and lower healthcare costs, it's not necessary for the American healthcare system...

• Hospitals participating in quality initiative receive $12 million in bonuses

  In the fourth year of its existence, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and...

• Study: MRSA infections increased between 2000 and 2004

  Researchers using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample...

• Enter your patient safety education event in the contest on the Patient Safety Monitor Blog!

  The Patient Safety Monitor Blog launched a contest in honor of National Patient Safety Day, which...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Culture of safety handbook

  Prevent life-threatening medical errors! The Joint...

Issue 32, August 12, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Flow Audio Conference

  Join HCPro on Wednesday, August 19, at 1 p.m. (Eastern) for the 90-minute audio conference Patient...

• Contest on the Patient Safety Monitor Blog!

  The Patient Safety Monitor Blog launched a contest in honor of National Patient Safety Day, which...

• Consumer activist group's list of ten patient safety reforms could save 85,000 lives

  In a new report titled "Back to Basics," the consumer activist group Public Citizen has...

• Joint Commission tailors "Speak Up" campaign to preventing pediatric errors

  In an effort to make parents more aware of the medical errors their children are in danger of while...

• KFF survey finds EDs seeing more uninsured patients during recession, capacity strained

  A new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation released last week shows that emergency departments...

Issue 31, August 5, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Process Management Seminar

  Discover a robust and practical framework to move you from focusing on performance improvement to...

• Contest on the Patient Safety Monitor Blog!

  The Patient Safety Monitor Blog launched a contest in honor of National Patient Safety Day, which...

• Link between patient satisfaction, intensity of care discussed

  Patients wanting to compare hospitals have a new outlet to do so: the same place where one might go...

• New bills, initiatives push for greater patient involvement in care

  Today's patients want to have a greater involvement in their care. To that end, both the federal...

• Nurse practitioners would play a key role if healthcare reform passes

  If any sort of healthcare form passes this year, caring for the nearly 50 million uninsured...

Issue 30, July 29, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Process Management seminar

  Discover a robust and practical framework to move you from focusing on performance improvement to...

• Contest on the Patient Safety Monitor Blog!

  The Patient Safety Monitor Blog launched a contest in honor of National Patient Safety Day, which...

• AHA urges CMS to grant deeming authority for The Joint Commission

  In a letter to the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS...

• The Institute for Safe Medication Practices reports potential problems with pain pump

  The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) warned of potential misuse of pain release balls...

• Ambulatory chronic disease patients suffer preventable medical errors

  An article in the July Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety highlights the gaps...

• Reducing rehospitalizations proves to be difficult and costly

  Reducing rehospitalizations has become a national focus as health reform plays out. Readmissions...

Issue 29, July 22, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Data Management Webcast

  Improve your data collection with effective techniques What is the most effective way to present...

• American Hospital Association, McKesson award three hospitals Quest for Quality Prize

  The American Hospital Association and McKesson awarded its Quest for Quality Prize to Bronson...

• New York passes bill mandating disclosure of nurse staffing ratios

  The New York State Senate passed the Nursing Care Quality Protection Act (NCQPA) last week, which...

• Illinois’ hospital data to be made public after delay

  Performance data from Illinois hospitals will be posted on a public Web site this coming fall...

• Patient safety-related cost savings not always easy to calculate

  As hospitals face deeper payment cuts from the federal government, many are considering new methods...

Issue 28, July 15, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Data Management Seminar

  Are you overwhelmed by healthcare data? If you're spending the majority of your day collecting...

• Joint Commission releases free MDRO Toolkit

  To better help hospitals fight off multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) and comply with National...

• HHS to publish series of reports highlighting healthcare initiatives

  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is publishing a series of reports about...

• CDC recommends healthcare workers receive H1N1 vaccine first

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended on Monday that healthcare workers...

• Hospital Compare Web site posts new quality data

  The Hospital Quality Alliance announced last week the addition of new data available on the CMS...

Issue 27, July 8, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Data Collection Webcast

  Discover tools and techniques to help you effectively analyze and communicate useful data to...

• Did CMS take into account unintended consequences with "no pay" events?

  In his most recent blog post, Robert Wachter, MD, questions the Centers for Medicare &...

• Did CMS take into account unintended consequences with "no pay" events?

  In his most recent blog post, Robert Wachter, MD, questions the Centers for Medicare &...

• Pennsylvania bans mandatory overtime for nurses

  Although it was signed into law last fall, a bill preventing hospitals from assigning nurses...

• The difficulties of moving to an electronic system: One hospital’s experience

  Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh's electronic system is one of the best in the nation, reports...

Issue 26, July 1, 2009

• Council, IOM outline comparative effectiveness research suggestions

  Two key players in the world of healthcare issued their suggestions to the Department of Health and...

• AMA adopts policy that makes quality care part of physicians’ ethical responsibilities

  Delegates at the American Medical Association's annual meeting recently approved a policy that...

• Washington DC-area hospital targets CHF patients as starting point for preventing readmissions

  Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, VA, has launched a program titled HeartLink to empower...

• More doctors going digital for patient visits

  A larger number of physicians are offering patients the option to be treated online, reports The...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

Issue 25, June 24, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effectively Managing Patient Education

  If you want to build a comprehensive patient education program, or improve your current program...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effectively Managing Patient Education

  If you want to build a comprehensive patient education program, or improve your current program...

• For facilities making the switch to EMRs, learn from your predecessors

  As the use of electronic medical records (EMR) climbs in the coming years, experts recommend...

• ED overcrowding may lead to increased chance of adverse outcomes for chest pain patients

  Patients visiting the emergency department (ED) with chest pain were more likely to suffer a poor...

• Massachusetts tops list of states in e-prescribing; Vermont, Tennessee take most improved

  Surescripts, the nation's largest e-prescribing network, announced yesterday that Massachusetts...

• Patient satisfaction on the rise at EDs across the country

  A new report from Press Ganey shows that despite reports of overcrowding, patient satisfaction...

Issue 24, June 17, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

• Maryland hospital fined for failing to report errors

  For the first time since the state began requiring hospitals to report serious medical errors five...

• Greater racial segregation often means less outpatient surgical services for minorities

  A new study from the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that in more racially...

• New infection control product monitors hand hygiene

  Performing hand hygiene adequately and often is something that many healthcare facilities are...

• AHA disappointed with proposed hospital budget cuts

  On June 13, 2009, President Barack Obama called for an additional $220 billion cut to hospital...

Issue 23, June 10, 2009

• Leaders in healthcare struggle with decision of how to reduce costs

  Although U.S. leaders in industry and politics agree that the healthcare system needs a complete...

• Study reveals that some urgent pages to physicians don’t reach intended recipient

  A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine attempted to examine how often pages to physicians...

• Patients waiting longer to see primary care physicians, specialists

  A new study done by Meritt Hawkins and Associates shows that wait times are growing rapidly for...

• Staff numbers, resources diminished to prevent infections, says APIC

  The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) released a...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Data Collection Virtual Workshop

  Discover tools and techniques to help you effectively analyze and communicate useful data to...

Issue 22, June 3, 2009

• As Georgia hospital prepares to open new wing, patient safety a top priority

  Houston Medical Center in Warner Robbins, GA, is opening a new tower this month, reports The Sun...

• Study examines incidence of inconsistent communication present with CPOE

  Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE) has been thought to be one method to reduce the number of...

• Major U.S. healthcare groups specify how they will try to save $2 trillion annually

  Last month, a group of major healthcare players came together to take on the Obama administration's...

• Washington DC area experiencing extreme emergency department overcrowding

  In what healthcare analysts believe to be representative of the nation as a whole, hospitals are...

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Performance Improvement Basics, 2nd Edition

  Implementing an effective performance improvement program is a constant challenge for department...

Issue 21, May 27, 2009

• Media technology used more frequently as means of marketing for healthcare facilities

  Until recently, it would have been unheard of to broadcast live an operation on the brain. Social...

• New Maryland law requires insurers to encourage EHR adoption by providers

  Maryland became the first state to require private insurers to encourage health providers to use...

• Proposed bill advocates for more visas for foreign nurses, stronger domestic nursing education

  A new proposed bill aims to lessen the effects of a nursing shortage, reports AHA News

• Partnership for Clear Health Communication announces award recipients

  The Partnership for Clear Health Communication at the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF...

Issue 20, May 20, 2009

• Evidence-based hospital design: Coming to a hospital near you

  Most brand new hospitals being built today take evidence-based hospital design into account, and...

• Joint Commission announces field review

  The Joint Commission has asked the field to review and comment on revisions to the 2009 National...

• IHI announces initiative to reduce rehospitalization

  Similar to the CMS Care Transitions Project launched in April, the IHI has announced its State...

• Patients want HIT to transform their healthcare experience

  A new study indicates that patients are eager for healthcare information technology (HIT) to...

• Editor's Pick of the Week: AHAP Blog

  The AHAP Blog is a forum for both members and nonmembers of the Association for Healthcare...

Issue 19, May 13, 2009

• Uniforms by color: Can they aid in caregiver identification?

  some hospitals are turning to color-coded uniforms, most often scrubs, for each different type of...

• C. difficile rates higher than previously thought

  The prevalence of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), bacteria that causes diarrhea and other...

• Maryland’s low income patients to receive free hospital care

  Hospitals in Maryland will have to use new methodology in determining which patients receive free...

• Pilot project to track adverse events related to blood transfusions

  Nine hospitals began taking part in a pilot program last week to track and analyze adverse events...

Issue 18, May 6, 2009

• WHO announces new hand hygiene campaign

  Piggy backing off its "Clean Care is Safer" campaign launched in 2005, The World Health...

• Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority releases annual report

  In its 2008 report about patient safety practices in the state of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania...

• New name and look for this e-newsletter!

  In one week (May 12) readers will notice a few changes to this e-newsletter. Both the...

• Study: E-prescribing boosts efficiency

  A new study in the May Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that computer physician...

Issue 17, April 29, 2009

• AHA suggests hospitals use Internet to convey messages to community

  In an effort to better utilize the Internet to get its message out, The American Hospital...

• Study shows technology may help with medication reconciliation issues

  A new study yielded better than expected results in terms of avoiding potential drug interactions...

• Urgent care centers prove their worth in wake of long ER lines

  Lengthy wait times at emergency rooms (ER) around the country have given way to "urgent care...

Issue 16, April 22, 2009

• Consumer group says fewer disruptive physicians disciplined

  A new report from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, says that fewer "bad"...

• AHA supports 80-hour standard for residents, offers suggestions

  The American Hospital Association (AHA) voiced support of the American Council for Graduate Medical...

• University group attempts to redesign hospital gown

  Researchers at North Carolina State University are embarking on redesigning the typical hospital...

• About one-third of surgeons suffer from burnout, study suggests

  A new study in the Archives of Surgery has found that 30 – 38% of surgeons across the country...

Issue 15, April 15, 2009

• Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to partner on EHR

  President Obama announced last week that the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of...

• Non-profit hospitals in Chicago send patients to public facilities, Tribune reports

  Patients in the Chicago area are more often being sent from non-profit hospitals where they...

• In some areas, nurses not finding jobs plentiful

  Although there has been a much publicized nursing shortage in the US during the past decade...

• CMS announces pilot project to reduce preventable rehospitalizations

  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced it will soon be launching a...

Issue 14, April 8, 2009

• Editor's Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• Proposed patient safety group looks to aviation model to improve processes

  A paper published in the most recent issue of Health Affairshighlights some of the areas in which...

• World Health Day celebrated April 7

  On April 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrated World Health Day. This year's...

• HealthGrades releases sixth annual patient safety study results

  The sixth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study was released on April 7...

• Opinion piece spells out how Florida can fight superbugs even as tourist hub

  An opinion piece in the St. Petersburg Times by David Smith, PhD and Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD...

Issue 13, April 1, 2009

• Unused surgical robot sits in Texas hospital

  Although using the da Vinci robot can lower infection rates after surgery and require less blood...

• One health system reduces death and readmission rates associated with heart surgery

  Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA, has bucked the trend and guaranteed patients who undergo...

• Joint Commission revises January 5th changes

  The Joint Commission has announced changes to the 2009 standards revisions originally released...

• IHI's Surgical Checklist "Sprint" ends April 1

  Announced at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) National Forum in December 2008, the...

Issue 12, March 25, 2009

• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine awarded grant to study HAIs

  The Pennsylvania Department of Health has awarded the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine a...

• Two new central line infection prevention programs to be launched

  Two programs targeting a reduction in central line infections in intensive care units (ICU) are...

• Are less confident doctors being trained in the name of patient safety?

  A recent New York Times article puts forth the idea that residents are now being trained to think...

• Positive Deviance used to combat MRSA

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Plexus Institute today announced the results of a Positive...

Issue 11, March 18, 2009

• President Obama appoints new commissioner of FDA

  President Obama named Dr. Margaret Hamburg as his nominee for the commissioner of the Food and Drug...

• Congress considers ER physician payment bill

  To ease the crisis many emergency rooms (ER) are facing as many uninsured patients use the ER when...

• NY Times Op Ed discusses the impersonal side of EMR

  Though electronic medical records have been hailed as a method for universally improving healthcare...

Issue 10, March 11, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• Cancer patients who communicate regularly with their doctors choose less costly end-of-life care

  Cancer patients who discussed end-of-life care with their physicians prior to their death chose...

• University of Chicago hospital to revamp new ER program

  After much scrutiny, the University of Chicago's (U of C) emergency room (ER) has decided to revamp...

• Observation stay may be good for patients’ safety, not for patients’ wallets

  The practice of keeping those patients who are too sick to be discharged from the hospital, but too...

• Press Ganey releases culture of safety report; finds assessing blame for errors is often why errors occur

  Press Ganey, a consulting firm that works with 40% of the nation's hospitals to help improve...

• NYC hospitals faulted for inadequately reporting near misses and adverse events

  A recent report by the New York City (NYC) comptroller found that hospitals in NYC report...

Issue 9, March 4, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• Should pay-for-performance be the wave of the future with so little testing?

  In her recent New York Times article, Pauline Chen, MD, weighs the pros and cons of...

• Maryland group to create statewide health information exchange

  A group of key players in the Maryland arena have banded together to create the state's first...

• CMS to conduct a "dry run" of nine patient safety and quality indicators

  Hospitals that participate in the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update...

• Study: Bond between patients and doctors can lead to better patient care

  Those patients who have a stronger relationship with their doctors were more likely to receive...

Issue 8, February 25, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• Hospital switches to disposable blood pressure cuffs to prevent infections

  St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, NY has started to use disposable blood pressure...

• NQF endorses 45 practices for providing culturally sensitive care

  The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed 45 new practices for delivering culturally competent...

• Study: Clinicians using electronic prescribing systems often override drug interaction alerts

  Although using electronic prescribing with decision support is thought to offer clinicians some...

• Study: Although CA nurse-patient ratios have increased, quality of care not necessarily improved

  The California HealthCare Foundation has released a study that shows that although the state began...

Issue 7, February 18, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effectively Managing Patient Education

  If you want to build a comprehensive patient education program, or improve your current program...

• NPSF announces 2009 Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 8-14

  The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) has announced that its 2009 Patient Safety Awareness...

• Gram-negative bacteria-related deaths becoming more prevalent

  Although MRSA has become known as the "superbug," gram-negative bacteria like...

• Washington hospitals standardize hospital codes

  In an effort to accommodate the many physicians and nurses who work at more than one hospitals, a...

• Part of U.S. stimulus bill will give money to comparison of medical treatments

  A portion of the recently passed $787 economic stimulus bill will provide money for studying...

Issue 6, February 11, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Rapid Response Teams, second edition

  Although healthcare organizations across the country may differ substantially, the RRT methodology...

• AHA Quality Center is accepting applications for Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship

  The American Hospital Association Quality Center is accepting applications through March 16 for its...

• VA hospitals to implement national safety "Step-Up"

  The department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be implementing a campaign about safety at its medical...

• South Carolina hospitals to work together to fight HAIs

  South Carolina hospitals will join together to fight against healthcare-acquired infections (HAI...

• University of Chicago Medical Center to decide which patients ED will treat

  In an effort to cut costs, the University of Chicago Medical Center’s (U of C) emergency...

Issue 5, February 4, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• Study: Color-coding medications and syringes prevents errors during surgery

  A new study shows that transferring a peel-off colored sticker from a medication vial to a syringe...

• Detroit hospital sued for refusal to release records after patient death

  Detroit Medical Center (DMC) is being sued for failing to release peer review records and other...

• Philadelphia-area cancer center focusing on care of survivors

  Although care of cancer patients is often thought to include rounds of radiation and chemotherapy...

• Educating patients prior to discharge can lower costs, readmission rates

  Patients who have been educated about how to continue their care once they are discharged from the...

Issue 4, January 28, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Patient Safety Monitor Blog

  The recently launched Patient Safety Monitor Blog brings you more of the patient safety news you...

• CA hospitals mortality rate data available

  California has published a study ranking hospitals based on their mortality rates, reports The Los...

• Study: color-coding medications and syringes prevents errors during surgery

  A new study shows that transferring a peel-off colored sticker from a medication vial to a syringe...

• Study: Health information technology improves patient care

  A study undertaken by researchers at Johns Hopkins University shows that clinical information...

• Minnesota hospital uses "timeout towel" to prevent surgical error

  In an attempt to prevent wrong-site surgeries, Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN, has taken a...

• New Jersey bill proposes increased identification of hospitals that have committed errors

  As part of an expansion of the Patient Safety Act that went into effect in New Jersey four years...

• New York State releases data for HAI rates at specific hospitals

  Stemming from the mandate of a 2005 law, the New York State Department of Health released a report...

• Will full disclosure actually lower medical errors?

  Traditionally, the healthcare system has taken an approach to medical errors that involves secrecy...

Issue 3, January 21, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Effectively Managing Patient Education: Going Beyond Joint Commission Requirements

  Now it’s easy to build an effective patient education program If you want to build a...

• Joint Commission to offer patient satisfaction data on its Quality Check Web site

  The Joint Commission is offering another way for consumers to compare data about hospitals through...

• Surgical checklist shown to reduce risk of error by one third

  A study released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week shows that when implementing the...

• Computer glitch causes medical errors for veterans nationwide

  Since August 2008, patients at Veterans Affairs (VA) health centers across the country have been...

• House members to Obama: Key to economic health is in nation’s hospitals

  130 members of the House of Representatives recently addressed President Obama in a letter stating...

Issue 2, January 14, 2009

• Editor’s Pick of the Week: Culture of Safety handbook

  Prevent life-threatening medical errors! The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety...

• Study: Quality reporting services rank same hospitals differently

  A study in the November/December Health Affairs shows that although many quality reporting...

• Incoming Obama administration to push for electronic health records

  Although his inauguration does not take place until next week, President-elect Barack Obama is...

• Texas radiologists say patient safety at risk due to overuse of scans

  In what some Texas physicians are labeling a ’turf battle,’ Texas radiologists are...

• HHS releases plan for reducing HAIs

  In an effort to reduce the staggering number of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) found in the...

Issue 1, January 7, 2009

• Editor’s pick of the Week: HCAHPS Success

  Your patient-care reputation is under the microscope The public, potential patients, and payers can...

• MRSA drug receives preliminary approval from FDA panel

  The Food and Drug Administration’s Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee has given...

• Pfizer and hospitals partner to trial system for reporting drug risks

  Pfizer has joined together with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General...

• Medical devices lag behind technology outside of healthcare

  The inability for medical devices to communicate with each other is becoming a growing concern...

• New York City paying doctors to use electronic health records

  In an effort to encourage primary care physicians to utilize electronic medical records, New York...