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A Quality Disconnect
Maureen Larkin, Senior Editor-Quality
When it's your job to monitor quality, there's a long list of items that you think about on a daily—if not hourly—basis. You're always looking for new ways to prevent the spread of infection, or how to keep patients from falling. But in the minds of our consumers, a quality healthcare experience is something completely different.[Read More]
     
 
June 12, 2008
 
     
 
Editor's Picks
New York Medicaid won't pay for hospital errors
The New York state Medicaid program—one of the most expensive in the nation—announced last week that it will no longer reimburse hospitals for mistakes during surgery and other medical errors. The state health department expects it will save $6 million per year with the rule change. [Read More]
Even the best-ranked hospitals make mistakes
A study conducted by a team of surgeons at the University Health Network in Toronto says that even hospitals that score well on hospital report cards are making mistakes that cost patients their lives. Relying solely on hospital report cards misses a critical opportunity for hospitals to improve the quality of care they offer, the study says. [Read More]
Doctors miss cultural needs, study says
Doctors aren't tailoring the care they offer to meet the cultural needs of patients, says a study published earlier this week in The Archives of Internal Medicine. The result is that patients of ethnic origins often receive lower quality of care. [Read More]
Will saying 'I'm sorry' scare patients way?
Hospitals apologizing for medical errors is a good thing, writes my HealthLeaders Media colleague Carrie Vaughan, but she worries what effect the trend of doctors and hospitals apologizing for errors will have on small hospitals. Many of them are already seen as a Band Aid station, to be used for routing procedures or dire emergencies, she says, so what will admitting mistakes do to hospitals that are already struggling to attract patients? [Read More]
This Week's Headlines
Blood sucking device saves heart patients
Los Angeles Times - June 6, 2008
Patient's death shows lapses at North Carolina hospital
Raleigh News and Observer - June 9, 2008
Hospitals want involved patients
Chicago Tribune - June 10, 2008
HHS announces 12 communities selected to advance use of EHRs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - June 10, 2008
Counterfeit medicines on the rise
Bloomberg News/Boston Globe - June 11, 2008
 
Webcasts
June 17, 2008: Marketing Oncology: Strategies for Service Line Campaigns
On Demand: 5 Easy-to-use New Media Options for Healthcare Marketers
On Demand: Service Line Strategies Workshop: Oncology
 
  From HealthLeaders Magazine  
Shared Success
Crafting a true partnership—often with a perceived competitor—is a complex task. Here's how some hospitals are doing it. [Read More]  
 
 
  Leaders Forum
Prevent your ER from becoming a hotbed of infections
Your hospital's ER is full of opportunities for infectious-disease transmission. In no other area of the hospital are you more likely to find an active tuberculosis patient, a patient with influenza, and an otherwise healthy patient with a sprained ankle sitting next to each other in the waiting room (this is a pay-per-view article). [Read More]