Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “If you’ve been in government a long time, as I have been, then the most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence. Why is this exciting? Because it’s rare.” When I read the quote, even today, I can hear the late New York senator’s voice booming, his last word full with extra punctuation.
By Susan Carr
Being an editor, I am well acquainted with error. Unlike medical errors, the effects of my slips and lapses are rarely dangerous. In fact, they’re often humorous, occasionally useful.
By Susan Carr
The National Patient Safety Foundation will offer a complimentary webinar, "Patient Safety Resources and Publication Strategies: Uncovering and Contributing Important Knowledge in the Field," at 1:00pm ET on June 22, 2010.
By Susan Carr
I look forward each spring to attending the National Patient Safety Foundation’s (NPSF) Patient Safety Congress for great education and networking opportunities. I especially look forward to the pre-conference programs NPSF offers, which this year (May 17–19) added a half-day on medical simulation to the customary full-day sessions on leadership and community engagement.
By William A. Hyman, ScD, PE The Canadian government agency Health Canada issued a reminder to hospitals
last fall on the risk of entrapment of patients in hospital beds. This
notice raises again what should by now be a well known hazard. Read More...
By Susan Carr The annual conference of the Health Information and Management Systems
Society, HIMSS, is notorious for its size. This year's event — March
1-4 in Atlanta — drew 27,855 health IT professionals, clinicians, and
vendor representatives. The Exhibit Hall featured 934 companies and was
packed most of the time.
75% of Providers Report Experiencing Disruptive Behavior; 26% Changed Jobs
Susan Carr The results of a joint study by The Studer Group and the Center for
Patient and Professional Advocacy (CPPA) at Vanderbilt University
confirm that disruptive behavior pervades healthcare organizations and
contributes to staff turnover.
HHS Invites Public Comment on Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections
The
U.S. Health and Human Services Steering Committee for the Prevention of
Healthcare-Associated Infections is soliciting input from the public as
it develops a strategy for reducing and preventing HAIs. As part of
that effort, it is convening a series of engagement meetings this
summer: Sat., July 25 in Denver; Thurs., July 30 in Chicago, and
Thurs., Aug. 27 in Seattle. READ MORE...
Dr. Blumenthal Presents ONC Vision at HIT Symposium
By Jeffrey Scott
Healthcare
reform is getting a mind-bending boost from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, with as much as $46 billion being directed toward
Health Information Technology. Managing this effort is the Office of
the National Coordinator for HIT, Dept. of Health and Human Services,
or ‘ONC’ for short. The ONC is spoken of in hushed tones, befitting an
organization with such enormous impact, so I was especially interested
to hear its Director, Dr. David Blumenthal, speak at the recent HIT
Symposium at MIT (June 30 – July 2).
READ MORE
Safeguards Fail to Protect VA Patients
from Surgeon’s Errors
By Susan Carr
In a page-one story on Sun., June 21, The New York Times
reported that significant errors persisted for more than six years at a
brachytherapy program at the Veterans’ Medical Center in Philadelphia
despite investigation. The Times reports that Dr. Gary D. Kao
implanted radioactive seeds incorrectly on repeated occasions as he
treated patients with prostate cancer.
READ MORE
Share Your Light
Susan Carr In this first posting to the PSQH blog, I invite readers to contribute suggestions and essays to what I expect to be a lively forum of news and ideas about safety and quality improvement. When we launched PSQH in late 2004, we wanted the magazine to provide more than a one-way transmission of information, and now the Internet offers some of the best vehicles for that kind of exchange. READ MORE
HITECH Interoperetta Goes Viral
Susan Carr
For comic inspiration and musical bravura in the HIT space, nothing beats Dr. Ross D. Martin’s Interoperetta in Three Acts, an appreciation of HITSP, CCHIT, AHIC and more. READ MORE
The MRI Safety Gap
Tobias Gilk In healthcare, particularly in patient safety, there is a cultural predisposition towards excellence. There's a fundamental desire to create better, safer environments in support of care. That applies to staff qualifications, policies & procedures, medical technology, and — usually — standards for accreditation. READ MORE
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