Medical Errors News and Research

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Researchers describe benefits of establishing Center for Professional and Peer Support at BWH

There is a growing recognition that in health care institutions where professionalism is not embraced and expectations of acceptable behaviors are not clear and enforced, an increase in medical errors and adverse events and a deterioration in safe working conditions can occur.

29 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: The lesson from Florida's special election; hospital deaths; costs of treating hep C

But in recent months, the political landscape has grown bleaker [for Democrats] .... The question, of course, is why so many Republicans turned out [in the Florida special election last week] and why so few Democrats did. The answer among strategists on both sides was: Obamacare. But not in the sense that the healthcare law is so unpopular that Democrats are doomed; in fact, as more people sign up for health coverage, polls suggest that Obamacare is a little less toxic now than it was last fall. Instead, the problem is that a high-decibel debate over Obamacare has the effect of prompting conservatives to come out and vote, but not liberals (Doyle McManus, 3/16).

18 Mar 2014

Highlights: Mental health problems in Va.; Kan. autism coverage mandate; device-makers' new disclosures

After the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, Virginia lawmakers injected tens of millions of dollars into the state's mental-health system, including local mental-health agencies that are the first stop for people in crisis.

11 Mar 2014

Computerized safety checklist shows threefold drop in rates of serious type of hospital-acquired infection

A computerized safety checklist that automatically pulls information from patients' electronic medical records was associated with a threefold drop in rates of one serious type of hospital-acquired infection, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

24 Feb 2014

Informed consent is not required for certain health research, say bioethics experts

Under the right conditions, full informed consent is not ethically required for some types of health research, according to leading bioethics experts.

21 Feb 2014

UC San Diego Health System named recipient of Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence

UC San Diego Health System is a recipient of Healthgrades' "Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence." Top performing hospitals were selected based on clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of care in specialty areas such as cardiac and neuro surgery and gastrointestinal, pulmonary and critical care.

29 Jan 2014

Barriers persist to new approaches to medical liability, studies find

Issues of medical liability and tort reform, as well as how they interact with rising health care costs, continue to draw news media interest.

7 Jan 2014

USARAD Holdings offers unique wellness program for businesses through SecondOpinions.com

USARAD Holdings Inc. a leading US Joint Commission Accredited teleradiology and telemedicine solutions provider is now offering a Complimentary Corporate Membership Plan through SecondOpinions.com. This unique wellness program can lower insurance premiums for businesses, increase employee productivity and improve the overall quality of healthcare.

2 Jan 2014

Sebastian Ferrero Foundation's initiative grants holiday wishes to children on Christmas day

Sebastian Ferrero Foundation's holiday toy initiative helped grant holiday wishes for over 150 local children by partnering with the local Children's Advocacy Center in support of the organizations "Help for the Holidays" program and UF Health's Child Life Program who delivered gifts to pediatric patients in the hospital on Christmas Day.

27 Dec 2013

Longer looks: A 'biopsy chaperone;' medical errors at assisted living homes; 'wasting money' on multivitamins

At least 80 times in recent years, employees at San Diego County assisted living homes overlooked serious medical issues, gave the wrong medication or otherwise failed to properly care for vulnerable seniors. The problems arose as a result of the unique position held by the care homes, viewed by many families as health-care facilities even though they lack the required levels of training, supervision and oversight. The new cases were examined by U-T Watchdog as part of an ongoing partnership with the CHCF Center for Health Reporting at the University of Southern California (Jeff McDonald, 12/14).

20 Dec 2013

Research roundup: 'Substantial' Medicare savings from avoiding ERs; new ways for primary care; trends in kids' fast food consumption

Some Medicare beneficiaries who place 911 calls to request an ambulance might safely be cared for in settings other than the emergency department at lower cost. Using 2005–09 Medicare claims data and a validated algorithm, we estimated that 12.9–16.2 percent of Medicare-covered 911 emergency medical services transports involved conditions that were probably nonemergent or primary care treatable.

9 Dec 2013

Huntsville Hospital Health System chooses Caradigm HIE for integrated care across community

Huntsville Hospital Health System, the nation's fifth largest publicly owned healthcare organization, has selected the Caradigm Health Information Exchange, powered by Orion Health, to provide the backbone for integrated care across the community, with a vision to ultimately connect care across the entire northern Alabama region.

6 Dec 2013

Swedish Covenant Hospital recognized as one of 55 Top Urban Hospitals in the country

Swedish Covenant Hospital was honored as one of 55 Top Urban Hospitals in the country today at the Leapfrog Group's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

4 Dec 2013

Virginia Mason a 2013 Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group

Virginia Mason has been named a 2013 Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, making this the eighth consecutive year it has earned this national recognition.

3 Dec 2013

Leapfrog announces list of 2013 Top Hospitals

The Leapfrog Group announced its list of Top Hospitals at its Annual Meeting today, highlighting the diversity of hospitals represented nationwide. Widely cited as the nation's most competitive hospital quality award, the Top Hospitals designation recognizes hospitals that deliver the highest quality care by preventing medical errors, reducing mortality for high-risk procedures like heart bypass surgery, and reducing readmissions for patients being treated for conditions like pneumonia and heart attack.

3 Dec 2013

TopPac® 20 ml prefillable polymer syringe for infusion therapy introduced by SCHOTT

SCHOTT expanded its range of TopPac polymer syringes to include a 20 milliliter (ml) format that can be used in combination with syringe pumps for infusion therapy. SCHOTT TopPac® prefillable syringes (PFS) simplify the infusion therapy preparation process and can ultimately reduce costs for pharmaceutical companies and health care facilities.

13 Nov 2013

Wake Forest Baptist provides guided relaxation, mindfulness meditation training to medical students

Doctors commonly tell patients that stress can be harmful to their health. Yet when it comes to reducing their own stress levels, physicians don't always heed their own advice.

31 Oct 2013

Medical errors: The third cause of death in the US

New research estimates up to 440,000 Americans are dying annually from preventable hospital errors. This puts medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States, underscoring the need for patients to protect themselves and their families from harm, and for hospitals to make patient safety a priority.

23 Oct 2013

Hospitals try new tactics to reduce hospital falls

The nation's medical workforce grapples with preventing falls in the hospital to improve patient safety. In the meantime, seniors in some places of the country are more likely to fill prescriptions for high-risk drugs, and Miami's seniors lead the nation in filling Medicare prescriptions.

18 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 17, 2013

Today's headlines include reports and analyses of the Capitol Hill deal to raise the debt limit and reopen the federal government, as well as the latest developments regarding the health law's federal and state health insurance exchanges.

17 Oct 2013