Medical Errors News and Research

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HARM score tool to measure quality, clinical outcomes for colon, rectal surgery patients

Since the publication in 2000 of a report titled "To Err is Human" by the Institute of Medicine which called for a reduction in preventable medical errors, there has been an increasing demand for making improvements in the quality and measurement of health care outcomes.

27 Sep 2013

Smoking may increase risk of complications, death after colorectal procedures

Infection, pneumonia, blood clots and kidney failure are all possible complications after any major surgery. A new study shows that smoking boosts the risk of such complications following some of the most common colorectal procedures, including surgery for colon cancer, diverticulitis or inflammatory bowel disease.

25 Sep 2013

Emotional stress, cognitive impairment linked to early hospital readmission of heart patients

Heart patients' mental state and thinking abilities may help predict whether costly and potentially dangerous early hospital readmission will follow their release after treatment, according to the results of a significant new study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers.

18 Sep 2013

LNHASC selects Clinical Outcomes Management Systems Interactive as Preferred Partner

The Louisiana Nursing Home Association Service Corporation (LNHASC) has chosen COMS Interactive, LLC (Clinical Outcomes Management Systems or COMS) as a Preferred Partner.

31 Aug 2013

More patients suffer from complications after cancer surgery, but only few die

While more patients in the U.S. are suffering from complications such as blood clots and infections after major cancer surgery, fewer are dying from their operations.

20 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Rove warns against government shutdown; 'despicable' GOP tactics; Medicare database a tool to control costs

President Obama would love nothing more than Republicans' providing him a bully pulpit and big stick with which he can beat them daily through the 2014 midterm elections. That's what the Republicans would give Mr. Obama if they shut down the government by trying to defund Obamacare in the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government after October 1. That's because the Continuing Resolution only affects discretionary spending. Virtually all of Obamacare costs are mandatory spending, unaffected by what's in the CR (Karl Rove, 7/26).

30 Jul 2013

Leapfrog unveils new tool that allows purchasers to calculate money spent on medical errors

During a time of flux for U.S. health care, employers and purchasers are increasingly concerned about how much value they receive for their enormous investment in health care. In a presentation yesterday evening at the World Health Congress Innovative Drivers of Value Based Purchasing Seminar, Leah Binder, president and CEO of the employer-driven nonprofit The Leapfrog Group, unveiled a new tool that allows purchasers to calculate how much they spend annually on unnecessary costs due to medical errors that occur within general acute care hospitals.

26 Jul 2013

U.S. News & World Report ranks UC San Diego Health System among nation’s best hospitals

UC San Diego Health System is once again ranked among the nation's best in U.S. News & World Report's 2013-14 "America's Best Hospitals" issue. The magazine placed UC San Diego Health System #1 in the San Diego metropolitan area with national rankings in 10 specialties—placing it among the country's most prestigious institutions.

17 Jul 2013

Study: Electronic health records cut some costs, but may not show savings everywhere

The researchers find that adoption of electronic health records cut costs for some Massachusetts community doctors but may not reduce overall inpatient hospital costs.

16 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews reports: "Since smokers' health-care costs tend to be higher than those of nonsmokers, is it reasonable for smokers to pay higher premiums when they buy insurance through the new state marketplaces that are scheduled to open in October? A handful of states and the District say the answer is no" (Andrews, 7/16).

16 Jul 2013

Use of electronic health records can reduce costs of outpatient care, says study

Use of electronic health records can reduce the costs of outpatient care by roughly 3 percent, compared to relying on traditional paper records.

16 Jul 2013

Study explores relationship between safety culture, adverse patient outcomes of care

When hospital senior management supports the creation and maintenance of a strong safety culture, patient outcomes improve, staff productivity increases, and there is less clinical employee turnover, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the peer reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

10 Jul 2013

Hospital discharge data provides a population-level picture of patient safety events in Pennsylvania

If all medical errors were counted together as a single cause, they would likely rank as the third leading cause of death in the United States. As health care personnel race to improve the quality of their care to save lives and prevent unneeded harm, a new study indicates there is more they can do to learn about what errors are occurring and why.

9 Jul 2013

MAXIMUS customer contact centers achieve Center of Excellence distinction

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced today that its New York Physician Profile and New Jersey Health Care Profile operations have been recognized as "Certified Centers of Excellence" by BenchmarkPortal.

3 Jul 2013

Residents in anesthesiology training programs have high rates of burnout and depression

Residents in anesthesiology training programs have high rates of burnout and depression, reports a survey study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

21 Jun 2013

NAHQ offers recommendations to preserve integrity of health care quality and patient safety systems

For too long, progress in preventing medication errors and other mistakes that compromise patient safety in healthcare facilities has been unacceptably slow and patients in the majority of U.S. hospitals may not be much safer today than they were 10 years ago, according to an editorial published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

6 Jun 2013

Viewpoints: Medical professionals and near misses; Two tea partiers diverge on Medicaid expansion; Obamacare's 'death by a thousand cuts'

A near miss, like any error, is an opportunity to examine how mistakes are made and what changes might prevent them. Yet we have no idea how many near misses there are. Many experts feel that near-miss errors dwarf the number of known errors, a number that is already too high for comfort. (According to a 2006 report, medication errors alone injure an estimated 1.5 million patients a year.) But the instinct for most medical professionals is to keep these shameful mistakes to ourselves (Danielle Ofri, 5/28).

30 May 2013

State roundup: Loophole could mean Calif. docs eat some costs

A loophole in California's upcoming health care overhaul could be exploited by families gaming the system or responding to hardship in a way that doctors say could leave a pile of unpaid bills. A chain of events would create a two-month period during which a family has medical coverage but no insurer must pay its claims. Nonpayment of premiums for subsidized policies would trigger the oddity: Federal law provides a three-month grace period before cancellation -- but insurers are responsible only for the first month (Sanders, 5/21).

23 May 2013

AACN to host world's largest conference for nurses who care for high acuity, critically ill patients

Emerging trends in patient care combine with advances in healthcare technology as thousands of nurses who care for high acuity and critically ill patients gather in Boston.

17 May 2013

AACN to bring thousands of nurses together for annual conference in Boston

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses brings together thousands of nurses next week in Boston, at its annual National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition with the theme "Dare To."

15 May 2013

Medical Errors News and Research

HARM score tool to measure quality, clinical outcomes for colon, rectal surgery patients

Smoking may increase risk of complications, death after colorectal procedures

Emotional stress, cognitive impairment linked to early hospital readmission of heart patients

LNHASC selects Clinical Outcomes Management Systems Interactive as Preferred Partner

More patients suffer from complications after cancer surgery, but only few die

Viewpoints: Rove warns against government shutdown; 'despicable' GOP tactics; Medicare database a tool to control costs

Leapfrog unveils new tool that allows purchasers to calculate money spent on medical errors

U.S. News & World Report ranks UC San Diego Health System among nation’s best hospitals

Study: Electronic health records cut some costs, but may not show savings everywhere

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Use of electronic health records can reduce costs of outpatient care, says study

Study explores relationship between safety culture, adverse patient outcomes of care

Hospital discharge data provides a population-level picture of patient safety events in Pennsylvania

MAXIMUS customer contact centers achieve Center of Excellence distinction

Residents in anesthesiology training programs have high rates of burnout and depression

NAHQ offers recommendations to preserve integrity of health care quality and patient safety systems

Viewpoints: Medical professionals and near misses; Two tea partiers diverge on Medicaid expansion; Obamacare's 'death by a thousand cuts'

State roundup: Loophole could mean Calif. docs eat some costs

AACN to host world's largest conference for nurses who care for high acuity, critically ill patients

AACN to bring thousands of nurses together for annual conference in Boston

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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