Consumer Reports Scores Hospitals on Safety

For the first time, Consumer Reports has rated U.S. hospitals for safety, combining six key measures into one composite rating. Overall, Consumer Reports rates 1,159 hospitals in 44 states in four special regional editions of its August issue.

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FDA Proposes UDI System for Medical Devices

In response to requirements in legislation that passed Congress with broad bipartisan support, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed that most medical devices distributed in the United States carry a unique device identifier, or UDI.

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Not Being Special

Sometimes, feeling “special” is a bad thing. Being special can be used as an excuse for not doing things that are generally accepted as ways to improve patient safety: Our patients are sicker. We work under more pressure. We can’t site-mark the kind of surgery we do. We don’t have time for double identifiers, barcoding, etc.  No doubt, aspects of some medical environments require adjusting processes, even safety processes, but sometimes these are poor excuses for working around things that would make medical care safer and more reliable.

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