A “Quality and Safety in Health Care” Report
Staff Reporters
According to the Star-Ledger, December 9, 2008, almost every hospital now collects data on patients injured or killed by medical mistakes, but only one in five share that information, even with key managers who could work toward making improvements, a national survey found.
The QSHC Study
The study, the first to look nationwide at how hospitals report events that cause patients physical or psychological harm, was published in the journal Quality and Safety in Health Care [QSHC]. The survey, sent to hospital risk managers, found that just 32 percent of all hospitals nationwide have established “supportive environments” that allow anonymous reporting, while only 13 percent have broad staff involvement in reporting unintended injuries to patients, with nursing staff bearing the brunt of such responsibility. It found great reluctance on the part of doctors to get involved in reporting, citing factors such as concerns about liability, professional embarrassment and the time allotment required.
Assessment
Such practices prevent hospitals from creating systems that would protect staff workers who report mistakes and may foster an environment that keeps such critical information under wraps, according to the survey, which was based on voluntary responses from more than 1,600 hospitals nationwide.
Conclusion
And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Does this cloistered information cause patient harm? Is it fair to nurses?
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm
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Filed under: Breaking News, Healh Law & Policy, Insurance Matters, Professional Liability, Quality Initiatives, Surveys and Voting Tagged: | medical errors
Not So Simple Surgical Mistakes
According to the Wall Street Journal, on February 18, 2009, there is no national database of hospital fire and burn incidents. And, although such horror stories are rare, concerns are raising about the risks of burn injuries to patients.
For example, reported incidents include electrical sparks from a surgical tool that caused a fire in the breathing tube of a young tonsillectomy patient. And – hot particles from a bassinet warmer ignited flames that burned a newborn baby. Finally, a nicotine patch on a patient undergoing an MRI scan reportedly became so hot the patient was burned and the test halted
But, data from studies conducted in Pennsylvania indicate that there are 650 surgical fires in hospitals annually, and there may be three to four times as many “near miss” incidents, such as a surgical drape that begins smoldering and was extinguished quickly.
So said – Dr. John Clarke – a trauma surgeon and clinical director of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System!
Now, I wonder if the electro-cauterization “bovi” accident, that emasculated two “circumcised” male newborns in Atlanta more than a decade ago, would be counted as a fire or burn incident. Any thoughts?
Ann Miller; RN, MHA
[Executive-Director]
Medical Diagnostic Errors
-Ann
Did you know that diagnostic errors are the leading cause of malpractice suits, accounting for as many as 40% of cases and costing insurers an average of $300,000 per case to settle, studies of resolved claims show?
Peter Pronovost MD, a patient-safety researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore MD, estimates that diagnostic errors kill 40,000 to 80,000 hospitalized patients annually, based on autopsy studies over the past four decades.
Studies of malpractice-claims data show that diagnostic errors often don’t have a single cause.
What the Doctor missed?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703694204575517834198205438.html
Michael
Diagnostic Errors and Malpractice
Medical errors will likey never be shared because there is nothing “in it” for the entrenched stakeholders; just the patients who seem to always come last.
Frank
Is a New Federal Patient Safety Effort Doing Enough to Curb Medical Errors?
The Medicare program is betting on a new course of action to curb what one medical journal has dubbed an “epidemic” of uncontrolled patient harm.
http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/02/23/is-a-new-federal-patient-safety-effort-doing-enough-to-curb-medical-errors/
But, is it enough, and is yet another federal initiative the answer?
Dr. Aaron