Medical Errors News and Research

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Survey finds doctors not always honest with patients

Most physicians paint overly optimistic prognoses for their patients, and many have withheld information concerning their medical mistakes and financial relationships with drug companies and device manufacturers, according to a national survey published in Health Affairs.

10 Feb 2012

U-M develops new system to reduce incidence of retained surgical instruments

It may sound like something from a TV medical drama, but the incidence of surgeons leaving something behind in the body is very real at hospitals across the country. For decades, surgical teams have relied on counting -- and recounting -- the sponges, needles, blades, retractors, and other items used during operations.

6 Feb 2012

e-health technology slashes hospital prescribing errors

Medication prescribing errors can be reduced by as much as 66 percent with the introduction of electronic prescribing technology in hospitals, new Australia-first research has found.

31 Jan 2012

Ariz. hospitals fighting losses in political shift and in court; Ga. seeking second cancer center

A look at hospital news around the country also includes reports on a Mayo collaboration in Minnesota on immigrant health, plans for a proton cancer therapy center in South Florida and efforts by Tufts Medical Center to get a level one trauma center.

31 Jan 2012

New Yorker mistakenly billed for $44.8 million from hospital

Unemployed doorman Alexis Rodriguez says he almost became ill when he received a $44.8 million bill from the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center. Rodriguez was hospitalized last spring with pneumonia and was afraid the bill was legitimate. His actual bill stood at $300.

17 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: GOP moving away from compassionate conservatism; Competing strategies for fighting obesity

Romney asserts that President Obama wants to "fundamentally transform America," turning the country "into a European-style entitlement society." In fact, (Mitt) Romney and his Republican presidential rivals have a far more radical transformation in mind. They envision a dramatically shrunken federal government and a dangerously unraveled social safety net.

13 Jan 2012

Breaking down the issues related to outpatient medical errors

The attention paid over the past decade to reducing medical errors in the hospital setting has reduced deaths, infections and injuries caused by other surgical and hospital errors -; and now there's a call for similar attention on outpatient procedures.

13 Jan 2012

Hospital employees report few medical errors, finds HHS study

A new study released today by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that hospital employees are only reporting fourteen percent of all medical errors and usually don't change their practices to prevent future harm to patients.

7 Jan 2012

Journal highlights safe use of point-of-care testing technologies

Many medical tests that once required sending samples to a laboratory and waiting for results can now be rapidly performed at the patient's bedside. As these point-of-care testing (POCT) technologies are increasingly integrated into patient care, careful attention is needed to protect patient safety and avoid medical errors, according to this month's special issue of Point of Care: The Journal of Near-Patient Testing & Technology.

28 Dec 2011

Lockheed Martin, Johns Hopkins partner to create safer and more efficient ICU model

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality of Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with the Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and technology company, to create a safer and more efficient hospital intensive care unit (ICU) model.

15 Dec 2011

NHS whistle blowers need more protection

A consultant pediatrician who had come forth with concerns about a clinic where Baby Peter was treated days before his death has accused NHS managers of using employment laws to gag potential whistleblowers.

14 Dec 2011

Leapfrog names RUMC a top hospital for safety and quality

For the third time, Rush University Medical Center has been named one of the top hospitals in the country by the Leapfrog Group, a national not-for-profit organization that promotes health care safety and quality improvement.

12 Dec 2011

The challenges of controlling health care's wasteful spending

The National Health Care Antifraud Association says outright abuse represents 3 percent of all health care spending.

9 Dec 2011

Montefiore recognized among Leapfrog's 2011 Top Hospitals list

Montefiore Medical Center was recognized yesterday as one of the nation's 2011 Top Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group, a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage dedicated to improving healthcare safety, quality and affordability. Of the 65 hospitals chosen from nearly 1200 nationwide that participated in the annual survey, Montefiore was one of only two hospitals named from New York State.

8 Dec 2011

Leapfrog names UMHHC a top hospital for safety and quality

The University of Michigan hospitals are among the safest and most effective hospitals in the country, according to a new national ranking from the respected independent health care quality rating organization, The Leapfrog Group. This is the second year in a row, and third year overall, that Leapfrog named the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers a top hospital.

7 Dec 2011

UH Case Medical Center designated as 'Top Hospital' and leader in quality patient care

University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio is among 65 hospitals nationwide to be designated as a "Top Hospital" and leader in quality patient care by The Leapfrog Group.

7 Dec 2011

AHRQ-funded study to monitor rural patients following hospital discharge

Medical errors during hospital stays make headlines, but far more common are problems that occur after patients — especially older ones — go home. Little research has focused on the critical weeks after discharge, and none has focused on rural patients — until now.

6 Dec 2011

Beyond Lucid Technologies launches MediView software platform

Beyond Lucid Technologies, Inc., a healthcare IT startup serving the emergency medical, disaster management, and First Response industries, today announced the launch of its MediView software platform at the mHealth Summit, and the publication of a first-of-its-kind white paper surveying technologies currently available to connect ambulances with hospitals via telemedicine.

5 Dec 2011

Residents at neurosurgery training programs oppose new regulations limiting duty hours

Residents at U.S. neurosurgery training programs strongly oppose new regulations that further limit their duty hours, according to a survey study in the December issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

3 Dec 2011