Beyond Center Stage at HIMSS

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.

Read More »

Distractions and Interruptions: Impact on Nursing

Distractions and Interruptions: Impact on Nursing

Working at the point of care, nurses play a key role in the delivery of safe, quality healthcare. Acute care nurses have to make timely and relevant clinical decisions, yet work within environmental conditions that are conducive to error.  A recent study showed that nurses on average were interrupted 3 to 6 times every hour by people, pagers, telephone, etc (Potter et al., 2005). The potential impact of interruptions and distractions includes medical and medication errors, ineffective delivery of care, conflict and stress among health professionals, latent failures, and poor outcomes.

Read More »

Disclosure and Apology: What’s Missing?

Disclosure and Apology: What’s Missing?

 

Ten years following Linda Kenney’s medically induced trauma, the organization she founded to “support healing and restore hope” for patients, families, and clinicians following adverse events co-sponsored an invitational forum about ways to offer emotional support to clinicians. Collaborating with the Massachusetts Medical Society, CRICO/RMF, and ProMutual Group, Kenney’s organization, Medically Induced Trauma Support Services, hosted the event at the MMS offices in Waltham, Mass., on March 13, 2009, during Patient Safety Awareness Week.

Read More »

Florida Collaborative Tackles Hospital Readmissions

Florida Collaborative Tackles Hospital Readmissions

 

Whether you look at the national health reform debate taking place in Washington or the payment reform initiatives by commercial health plans, one common element and call to action is reducing hospital readmissions.

Read More »

Patient Engagement in Patient Safety: Barriers and Facilitators

Patient Engagement in Patient Safety: Barriers and Facilitators

 

Patient safety has been at the forefront of recent domestic and international policy initiatives. The release of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2000 report To Err Is Human solidified the patient safety movement and the role that leadership and knowledge can play in preventing adverse events from occurring.

Read More »

Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery

Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery

 

Hunterdon Center for Surgery (a partner of Hunterdon Healthcare) provides patients with a convenient location for same-day surgical procedures. The facility mirrors the look and comfort of a typical doctor’s office, yet its four operating rooms house the same sophisticated medical equipment found at Hunterdon Medical Center

Read More »