Study Shows Hospital C-Suite and Risk Managers Struggle with Maintaining Patient Safety

Maximizing patient safety is the top priority for hospital C-Suite executives and Risk Managers in the United States – but, “lack of teamwork, negative culture and poor communication” will present barriers to patient safety in the future – according to a new survey commissioned by American International Group (AIG) in consultation with patient safety expert, Dr. Marty Makary, MD, MPH.

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Florida Hospital Tampa Pilots Proactive Patient Monitoring System

Florida Hospital Tampa has adopted EarlySense, a bedside patient monitoring and centralized system. The EarlySense system offers medical professionals the ability to identify early warning signs of patient safety risk and a decline in health. Without ever physically touching the patient, the system measures heart rate, respiration rate, patient movement while in bed as well as how often a patient enters and exits the hospital bed by utilizing a sensor that is placed under the mattress of a bed.

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Young Physicians Patient Safety Award Winners Announced

The Doctors Company Foundation, in partnership with the Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), has announced this year’s winners of The Doctors Company Foundation Young Physicians Patient Safety Awards, which recognize young physicians for their deep personal insight into the significance of patient safety work.

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Diagnostic Errors More Common, Costly, and Harmful Than Treatment Mistakes

In reviewing 25 years of U.S. malpractice claim payouts, Johns Hopkins researchers found that diagnostic errors — not surgical mistakes or medication overdoses — accounted for the largest fraction of claims, the most severe patient harm, and the highest total of penalty payouts. Diagnosis-related payments amounted to $38.8 billion between 1986 and 2010, they found.

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KBCore “Purple Button” Evaluation System Helps Meet ACA Reporting Requirements

As states continue to build health insurance exchanges (HIXs) for use by the Jan. 1, 2014, deadline set forth in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there is another aspect of the ACA that has received little attention – the requirement that by Jan. 1, 2015, HIXs cannot contract with a hospital of 50 beds or more unless that hospital has a patient safety evaluation system and reports data to a patient safety organization (PSO).

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AmeriHealth New Jersey and Cooper University Health Care Partner to Transform Health Care in New Jersey

In a highly innovative move, unprecedented in New Jersey, a health insurer and a hospital system – AmeriHealth New Jersey and Cooper University Health Care – have announced that Cooper will acquire a 20 percent interest in AmeriHealth New Jersey. This venture intends to transform health care in the state by increasing quality and lowering costs through a more highly coordinated care model.

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