Weighing the Pros and Cons of Patient Safety Technology
Although some emerging technology promises a patient safety cure-all, hospitals need to evaluate clinician workflow before implementing new gadgets
Viewpoint: HHS’ $840 Million Gamble
Against the backdrop of increasing rates of physician burnout, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a major project in October 2014 to recruit 140,000 clinicians or healthcare providers for a “transformative” initiative to enhance the quality of care and reduce its costs.
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Patient Safety Technology
Although some emerging technology promises a patient safety cure-all, hospitals need to evaluate clinician workflow before implementing new gadgets. In the 21st century, technology offers a solution to just about any everyday problem. Don’t know that actor that just came onto your screen? Log onto the IMDB app. Need directions? Just type the address into … Continued
Achieving Real-Time Respiratory Depression Surveillance of Post-Surgical Patients
More hospitals and health systems are waking up to the risks of under-monitoring patients at risk for respiratory depression.
CDS: An Essential Tool for Improving Patient Safety and Medical Care Readmissions
By promoting post-discharge medication adherence and more consistent follow-up appointments, CDS can help prevent deterioration that may contribute to avoidable readmissions.
Do Not Let “Depo-” Medications Be a Depot for Mistakes
The problem: Today, several longstanding medications are available on the market with names that begin with the prefix “Depo-,” meaning they are administered via a depot injection that deposits the drug into localized tissue from which it is gradually absorbed by surrounding tissue.
The Patient-Family Journey from Outpatient to Inpatient: Improving Quality and Safety With the Outpatient EMR and PCP Collaboration
The underuse of the medical summary derived from the outpatient electronic medical record (EMR) and the minimal communication between referring primary care physicians (PCP) and hospital providers have led to serious quality and safety implications for patients.
Interoperability Preparedness: What Hospitals Can Do to Be Ready for Smart Pump-EMR Interoperability
Smart pump–EMR interoperability is the new standard of care for intravenous (IV) infusion therapy. The IV route of administration for medications often results in the most serious outcomes of medication errors.
Medication Reconciliation: Improve Compliance Across Healthcare Settings
Medication reconciliation continues to be a problem for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Medication errors can occur during the transition of patient care because of miscommunication of drug information.
Unraveling Diagnostic Error: Delving Deeply to Identify Hidden Human Factors
The challenges we face in improving patient safety and decreasing healthcare-related harm and death remain urgent, compelling, and undeniable. Despite our considerable efforts over the past 15 years, and some very notable advances, mostly resulting from increased standardization of processes and the use of checklists, the overall magnitude of the problem remains enormous.