How The Shutdown Might Affect Your Health
For some federal health programs, a shuttered government means business as usual. But the congressional impasse over funding will hit others hard.
‘Explainable AI’ Could Reduce Readmissions (and Win Clinicians’ Trust)
This article first appeared January 16, 2018 on HealthLeaders Media. This technology can accurately predict 30-day readmissions and clarify the AI process for clinicians. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to change the healthcare industry, but gaining the trust of clinicians to use it can be a barrier to adoption. “A lot of the resistance … Continued
Judge Orders New Olympus Trial Over Superbug Death
At the initial Bigler trial last year, jurors rejected claims that the design of the company’s top-selling gastrointestinal scope hampered cleaning and declined to award punitive damages to the family. Instead, the jury ordered Olympus to pay the Seattle hospital involved $6.6 million in damages. In turn, the hospital, Virginia Mason Medical Center, had to pay the family $1 million.
The Tale of The Flying Gurney, and Other Events That Should Never Happen, But Still Do
While hospitals do their best to limit the number of so-called “never events” that happen to their patients, recent events show that there is still work to be done.
In patient safety circles, “never events” are mistakes that should simply never happen—seemingly commonsense mistakes such as a surgeon accidentally leaving a scalpel inside a patient, a newborn infant given to the wrong parents, or any death of a patient due to the gross negligence of a caregiver.
Study: Community-Based Organizations Do Not Impact Patient Hospitalization
Connecting patients with community-based organization often has little impact on the frequency with which a patient is seen in the emergency department (ED) or hospitalized.
What Patients Really Want to Hear (and See)
Communication is the cornerstone of good healthcare. Despite all the external challenges we face with the system in which we work, those few minutes we spend with patients and their families are precious — and are what we will be remembered for.
De-escalation: Mitigating Violence in Healthcare
The International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety Foundation (IAHSS) in August 2017 released a report to address strategies to prevent workplace violence in healthcare. Those familiar with the healthcare industry won’t be surprised by its conclusion: Healthcare facilities need to take steps now to mitigate violent incidents.
Joint Commission to Roll Out New Maternal Care and Infectious Disease Requirements
The elements of performane are intended to reduce the risk of diseases like HIV and syphilis being passed from mother to child during birth.
Trump Administration Clears Way To Require Work For Some Medicaid Enrollees
Adding a work requirement to Medicaid would mark one of the biggest changes to the program since its inception in 1966. It is likely to prompt a lawsuit from patient advocacy groups, which claim the requirement is inconsistent with Medicaid’s objectives and would require an act of Congress.
Q&A: The Patient Safety Implications of Overlapping Surgeries
A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association made headlines this November, announcing that overlapping surgeries didn’t increase the risk of postop complications. This study, and several others like it that came out in 2017, suggests the practice may not be as risky as some have feared.