Medical Errors News and Research

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Medical error reporting by doctors to hospitals seems underused

Actual medical error reporting by doctors to hospitals seems to occur less than it should when compared to physicians' views on whether they should report such errors, University of Iowa researchers said in the Jan. 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Jan 2008

Patient care: Intelligent Clinical Decision Support System

European and Turkish doctors and technicians are perfecting a medical support system that can track patients' real-time vital signs, link those to patient medical history, and, crucially, provide the latest clinical guidelines for patient care. Better yet, it can alert doctors when necessary.

8 Jan 2008

HHS releases new tools with aim to make health care safer

An array of toolkits designed to help doctors, nurses, hospital managers, patients and others reduce medical errors was released by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Dec 2007

Better health outcomes in hospitals using information technology

Patients are more likely to have better health outcomes if they are treated at hospitals using information technology (IT) systems, according to a comprehensive new Florida State University study.

12 Dec 2007

Doctors in the U.S. slow to report an incompetent or unethical colleague

The results of a new survey of doctors in the States suggests that the majority of them, regardless of what they may say, are reluctant to report incompetent or unethical colleagues.

4 Dec 2007

New recommendations provide evidence-based solutions to America's many health care problems

In a new evidence-based paper, the American College of Physicians (ACP) analyzes health care in the United States and 12 other industrialized countries and identifies lessons that could be applied to the particular political and social culture of the United States to achieve a high performing health care system, including achieving universal health insurance coverage for all Americans.

4 Dec 2007

US adults most likely to report medical errors and skip needed care due to costs

At a time when the U.S. spends more than double what other countries spend for medical care - $6,697 per capita in 2005 - a new Commonwealth Fund seven-nation survey finds that U.S. patients are more likely to report experiencing medical errors, to go without care because of costs, and to say that the health care system needs to be rebuilt completely.

2 Nov 2007

New tool helps pharmacies cater for customers with poor health literacy

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced two new tools to help pharmacies provide better quality services to people with limited health literacy.

1 Nov 2007

What is a critical lab value? it depends, Hopkins researchers find

When it comes to lab tests, interpreting the clinical importance of an out-of-range result depends on how much experience a physician has, suggests research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

28 Oct 2007

Coping after medical errors

Guilt, fear and loneliness often afflict both the caregiver and the family in the aftermath of a medical error, feelings that can be overcome if all parties try to build bridges and develop solutions that not only can prevent error but lead to forgiveness.

24 Oct 2007

Errors by hospital residents often down to poor teamwork, communication

Physicians-in-training are highly vulnerable to making medical errors that stem from teamwork breakdowns, especially a lack of supervision by experienced staff, according to a new study funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

22 Oct 2007

American College of Physicians recommends annual influenza vaccine for health-care workers

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that an annual influenza vaccine should be required for every health care worker with direct patient care activities.

4 Oct 2007

Promoting safety of medicines for children

The lack of thorough and reliable clinical data on the way medicines affect children requires strengthened safety monitoring and vigilance of medicinal products.

24 Sep 2007

New diabetes mellitus clinical practice guidelines

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has announced the release of its medical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus.

24 Aug 2007

Headaches of computerized medicine

Clinical information technology systems especially those known in the health care industry as computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems promise to improve health outcomes, reduce medical errors and increase cost efficiency, but hospitals adopting them must plan for immense workflow issues and a host of other unanticipated consequences that come with them or face potentially crippling problems.

3 Aug 2007

Study looks at how medical IT affects both employees and residents in nursing homes

Staff members in 17 nursing homes in downstate New York are being trained in the use of new, hand-held wireless computers for record keeping that will send patient information directly to a central server, where doctors, pharmacies, rehabilitation specialists and others treating residents will be able to access it easily and quickly.

17 Jul 2007