News Archive - Page 239 of 310 - Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

Technology

URAC and the Leapfrog Group Announce “Excellence in Hospital Website Transparency Program”

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

URAC and the Leapfrog Group have partnered to develop the Excellence in Hospital Website Transparency Best Practices Awards and Acknowledgement Program to identify outstanding hospital websites that promote transparency of quality measures in a manner that is useful and user-friendly for consumers. All hospitals that publically report their Leapfrog Hospital Survey results are eligible.

Team Training

Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

In March 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a call for applications for a new initiative designed to increase the nation’s primary care workforce by supporting facilities that train Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs). Under this new initiative, CMS will begin making payments from the $200 million of funds available in 2012 to eligible hospitals, helping them offset the costs of clinical training for APRN students.

Quality Improvement

NCQA Honors Health Quality Leaders

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

Nationally-known surgeon, writer and public health researcher Atul Gawande, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Helen Darling, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health; Patricia Gabow, MD, CEO of Denver Health and Hospital Authority; and Paul Grundy, MD, Global Director of Health Care Transformation at IBM, were honored by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) with Health Quality Awards in Washington, D.C., on March 27.

Workplace Safety

UVa Healthcare Worker Safety Center and American Nurses Association Issue Call to Action

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

In the 10 years since the passage of the federal Needlestick Safety and Protection Act, much progress has been made to reduce the risk of healthcare worker exposure to bloodborne pathogens—yet significant challenges remain. Earlier in March, The International Healthcare Worker Safety Center at the University of Virginia and the American Nurses Association (ANA), along with colleagues across the spectrum of healthcare, agreed on a Consensus Statement and Call to Action to address these issues.

Patient Safety

Quick Response Code-Enabled Patient Safety Education Program Launched

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

On March 13, Kimberly-Clark announced the launch of the QR (Quick Response) Code Patient Safety Education Program in collaboration with Safe Care Campaign to provide hospitals and healthcare facilities with free patient and caregiver education available instantly at the bedside.

Leadership

Ohio Children’s Hospitals Leading National Effort to Improve Hospital Care and Patient Safety

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

Leaders from 34 children’s hospitals from across the country gathered at Cardinal Health in Columbus, Ohio, on March 15 to launch a national effort to improve quality of care and patient safety in pediatric hospitals.

Leadership

Professional Interpreters in ER Need Training More Than Experience

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

Professional interpreters who received more than 100 hours of training in medical interpreting had nearly two-thirds fewer errors than those with fewer than 100 hours of training and significantly fewer errors with medical consequences than ad hoc interpreters, according to a study published on March 16 in Annals of Emergency Medicine (“Errors of Medical Interpretation and Their Potential Clinical Consequences: A Comparison of Professional vs. Ad Hoc vs. No Interpreters”).

Patient Safety

Consumer Reports: Many Medical Implants Never Tested For Safety, Leaving Patients At Risk

March 28, 2012 ‐ Susan Carr

A new investigation by Consumer Reports reveals that while tens of millions of American consumers live with medical devices implanted in their bodies, many of these implants have never been tested for safety and manufacturers are often required to do nothing more than file paperwork and pay a user fee before bringing their products to market.

Environment and Facilities

Clinical Alarm Management Environmental Assessment

March 28, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

Through April 27, The Joint Commission is collecting information on current practices relative to clinical alarm management to determine how best to address the related safety issues.

Technology

Language Line Services Collaborates with Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy on Annual Conference

March 15, 2012 ‐ Brooke Schmidt

Monterey, California—Language Line Services, the world’s leading provider of translation and interpretation services, will collaborate with the Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy (SHCA) as a key sponsor at its 2012 Annual Conference in Austin, Texas set for April 17-20, 2012. SHCA is a nonprofit patient advocacy organization affiliated with the American Hospital Association.