It’s no secret that the current system of healthcare in the United States needs improvement. Costs continue to grow; errors persist in treatment; overall dissatisfaction with availability, responsiveness, and hospital-acquired infections climb.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines system as “a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole.” As I travel across the country, I realize more and more that America’s healthcare delivery system really isn’t a system.

I am halfway through a 1-month stay in Barcelona, Spain (pinch me). I came for the World Congress meeting at the end of March and will stay through the BMJ/IHI International Forum in late April, followed immediately by a half-day workshop sponsored by the European Society for Quality Healthcare

In its report Preventing Medication Errors (2006), the Institute of Medicine estimated hospital patients are subjected to an average of at least one medication administration error per day.

2014-03-17Many hospitals have been considering a new technology that is often referred to as RFID (radio frequency identification). The technology can be used to track the location of medical devices needed for inspections or repairs, and it can also be used to find equipment needed for clinical procedures.

Despite focused, collaborative national and regional efforts to improve the quality of healthcare delivered in the United States, the number of patients who do not receive appropriate treatment remains high. In fact, for certain services, recommended care is delivered only about half the time.

Anyone who has been the victim of identity theft is most likely very familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). First enacted in 1970 and amended at least 17 times since then, the FCRA codifies in federal law all the rights and privileges of consumers that impact their personal credit histories.

In recent years, with technology advancing alongside heightening patient safety concerns, the real and potential applications of medical simulation learning have become easier to appreciate.

Few, if any, hospitals have been able to sidestep the many challenges arising from the continued shortage of qualified nurses across the United States. From the large sign-on bonuses many hospitals opt to pay new nurse hires, to the constant use of temporary and registry nurses to balance shifts, the shortage has had a daunting impact on the financial health of the institutions.

Previous studies have demonstrated that hospitalized patients often experience significant adverse events during their hospital stays because of the hospital staff’s failure to recognize or respond to early signs of clinical deterioration (Devita, et al., 2006).