Adverse Events and Other Rants: 10 Favorite Reads

5. New Facebook Page Gathers Stories of Medical Harm
The emphasis on healthcare system safety took on a new dimension with the introduction of ProPublica's Patient Harm Community, an interesting experiment on Facebook, which my column detailed on May 24.  Patients are encouraged to tell their stories in hope of provoking conversation and system-wide prevention strategies.  The Institution for Healthcare Improvement's IHI Patient Activist has launched a similar effort.

6. CMS Reveals Central Line Infection Rates, Finally

This Feb. 9 column applauded the release of hospital intensive care units' rates of central line bloodstream infections on Hospital Compare, a victory for checklist guru Peter Pronovost, MD. The Johns Hopkins intensivist has long argued that hospitals need public comparative data as an incentive for improvement.
I suggested that he should be popping open a bottle of champagne, not knowing his choice of beverage. In fact, when I interviewed him for this piece, he acknowledged pouring himself a glass of wine.

7. ICD-10 Proponents Cry Foul
When federal officials announced they were looking to delay the start date for ICD-10, many quality leaders and coders, as well as hospital officials who had already invested in the update, were pretty upset, as I explained in this March 1 edition.  We still don't know when the final decision will come out, but we're expecting it any day.