By Sharon Arnold PhD – Determining whether digitized information’s enormous power can improve patient care is at the root of many serious conversations about health information technology (IT).
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By Andy Bindman MD – If you’re ill, you want—and need—an accurate diagnosis. It’s the first step for you and your doctor to chart a course toward healing. But what if the diagnosis is wrong?
The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum are seeking nominations through Oct. 31 for the 2016 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards,…
Who doesn’t like a good list? Whether you are on it, know someone on it, or aspire to be on it, you always want to read the list. Here are some interesting lists I think deserve sharing starting with the Digital Health 2016 Top 100 Influencers and Brands and the Best and Worst Places to Practice.
By Paul Stinson – Health IT-related issues are well-represented on the ECRI Institution’s 2016 list of “Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations.” Heading the list: “Health IT configurations and organization workflow that do not support each other.” Other top concerns include patient identification problems and inadequate test-result reporting and follow-up.
By Patrick Conway MD – We know that it is possible to improve national patient safety performance resulting in millions of people avoiding infections and adverse health events. A report released by the AHRQ showed an unprecedented 39% reduction in preventable patient harm in U.S. hospitals compared to the 2010 baseline.
By Jeff Brady MD, MPH – To make health care safer, we have to know when harm happens. If information about a patient safety event is incomplete or doesn’t exist, providers can’t make the necessary changes to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Clinicians are an important source of reports about harm that occurs in health care—or safety events—when they happen. But that’s just one perspective.
By Shefali Luthra – Medical errors are estimated to be the third-highest cause of death in the country. Experts and patient safety advocates are trying to change that. But at least one of the tools that’s been considered a fix isn’t yet working as well as it should, suggests a report released on April 7, 2016.
By Jeff Brady MD, MPH – The chances that you will receive safer care when you enter the hospital are increasing, according to a new report from AHRQ. Between 2010 and 2014, we estimate that 87,000 fewer patients died from hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), such as adverse drug events, pressure ulcers, and potentially dangerous infections.