Health IT & Quality
Health IT & Quality
Regulate HIT Tools as Medical Devices? Yes and No
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced it is reconsidering its previous decision to exclude health information technology (HIT) tools from regulation as medical devices. When last evaluated in the late 1990s, this decision made common sense. At that time HIT consisted of rudimentary clinical documentation systems, electronic reference materials, and administrative applications.
Editor’s Notebook: The unTechnology Conference
Editor’s Notebook
The unTechnology Conference
Many sports fans are familiar with the quip, “Last night I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out.” Well, in early May, I went to a technology conference, and a patient safety meeting broke out. I didn’t expect the conference to be run-of-the-mill; the unSummit, by its name, signals that it offers an alternative conference experience and claims to offer high-quality, practical advice.
Medication Reconciliation: A Survey of Community Pharmacies and Emergency Departments
Medication Reconciliation: A Survey of Community Pharmacies and Emergency Departments
In any given week, 4 out of every 5 U.S. adults will use prescription medicines, over-the-counter drugs, or dietary supplements. Poor communication of a patient’s medication-use history between community practitioners and emergency department personnel contributes to many adverse drug events and can be a potential source of harm to patients.
Post-Discharge Call Programs – Improving Satisfaction and Safety
Post-Discharge Call Programs
Improving Satisfaction and Safety
For patients coming home from the hospital after surgery, an emergency department (ED) visit or any other inpatient stay, the change in location has both positive and negative possibilities. On one hand, because the patient is returning to familiar surroundings and routines, recovery may be easier. On the other hand, it may be harder.
Common Cause Analysis
Common Cause Analysis
To improve medication safety, many healthcare systems implement a technology (such as barcode at point of care) or a best practice (such as double-check of high-risk medications). This approach turns performance improvement into experimentation with other people’s solutions for other people’s system problems — the assumption being all providers share the same system problems.
Safety Huddles for a Culture of Safety
Safety Huddles for a Culture of Safety
When the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System in 2000, the executives and quality and patient safety staff at Gundersen Lutheran immediately started discussions around issues emphasized in the report.
Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery
Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery
Hunterdon Center for Surgery (a partner of Hunterdon Healthcare) provides patients with a convenient location for same-day surgical procedures. The facility mirrors the look and comfort of a typical doctor’s office, yet its four operating rooms house the same sophisticated medical equipment found at Hunterdon Medical Center
Patient Engagement in Patient Safety: Barriers and Facilitators
Patient Engagement in Patient Safety: Barriers and Facilitators
Patient safety has been at the forefront of recent domestic and international policy initiatives. The release of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2000 report To Err Is Human solidified the patient safety movement and the role that leadership and knowledge can play in preventing adverse events from occurring.
Florida Collaborative Tackles Hospital Readmissions
Florida Collaborative Tackles Hospital Readmissions
Whether you look at the national health reform debate taking place in Washington or the payment reform initiatives by commercial health plans, one common element and call to action is reducing hospital readmissions.
Disclosure and Apology: What’s Missing?
Disclosure and Apology: What’s Missing?
Ten years following Linda Kenney’s medically induced trauma, the organization she founded to “support healing and restore hope” for patients, families, and clinicians following adverse events co-sponsored an invitational forum about ways to offer emotional support to clinicians. Collaborating with the Massachusetts Medical Society, CRICO/RMF, and ProMutual Group, Kenney’s organization, Medically Induced Trauma Support Services, hosted the event at the MMS offices in Waltham, Mass., on March 13, 2009, during Patient Safety Awareness Week.