Disruptive clinician behavior continues to make headlines in news media, as first reported by the lead author in 2006 (Porto & Lauve). In July of this year, The Joint Commission, recognizing that disruptive clinician behavior continues to present challenges to healthcare organizations and impacts the quality and safety of patient care, released a Sentinel Event Alert on this topic to provide guidance on how to deal with it (Joint Commission, 2008, July 9). Despite this, hospitals and healthcare organizations continue to struggle with this issue…

Philadelphia-area hospitals have charted a unique strategy in patient safety: Facilities that are normally competing for patients are collectively identifying effective measures to prevent patient falls. Harnessing their strength as a regional collaborative, the hospitals have shared stories of how to implement effective interventions for falls prevention and have participated in brainstorming workshops to identify a long list of additional strategies. The facilities can then choose from the list those interventions that zero in on their unique challenges.

When sentinel events and near misses occur, the risk manager investigating the event often hears these types of statements from the people involved: “I didn’t mean to…,” “I thought you were…,” or often, “If only I could do it all over again…”

Surgical procedures account for a major share of a typical hospital’s overall financial performance. It is estimated that surgical services and associated care often generate around 60% of a hospital’s total revenues and some 30% to 40% of a hospital’s total expenses. Yet even as clinical information systems evolve forward rapidly in many areas of hospital operations, the vast majority of hospital organizations still have not yet fully automated their surgery processes.

In the United States, vaccine-preventable diseases cost in excess of $10 billion annually. Pneumococcal disease and influenza combined were the 8th leading cause of death in 2004 (Kung, et al., 2008).

Unknown to most Americans, the United States provides universal health coverage to its more than 305 million citizens and legal residents.

For as long as healthcare professionals have worked to improve patient safety, they have debated which criteria are appropriate for evaluating improvement initiatives and what evidence is required before programs are widely implemented.

Increasingly, healthcare consumers engage with clinicians and administrators in discussions about improving the safety and quality of healthcare.

Jackson Memorial Hospital is a 1,600-bed tertiary care facility in Miami, Florida, and serves as the primary teaching hospital for the University of Miami — Miller School of Medicine.

Healthcare consumers are increasingly aware of medical error and publicly reported quality measures.