Mike Murphy, president and CEO of Sharp HealthCare, is committed to the idea that quality and continuous improvement drive comprehensive business results. Murphy is so convinced about his theory that since 2001, he has led multiple projects using Malcolm Baldrige evaluation criteria and Lean Six Sigma improvement processes to make sweeping changes at the not-for-profit healthcare organization.
Peter Pronovost, MD, a Johns Hopkins University researcher made famous by his checklist study, has been named to Time magazine's 100 list. Pronovost, 43, began investigating hospital-acquired infections at Johns Hopkins' hospital in 2001 and concluded that arming physicians with a chart reminding them of each step in routine procedures drastically reduces the medical errors that lead to such infections. Pronovost says the checklist protocol could be rolled out nationwide within two years for less than $3 million.
A New Hampshire man has developed a device that could help healthcare professionals tackle the increasing scourge of drug-resistant infections, saving billions of dollars and countless lives. He has developed the technology to kill Noroviruses, C. diff, MRSA and other problem viruses and bacteria using a section of the ultraviolet light spectrum to bombard them with killing high-energy photons.
Despite their large populations, Georgia's DeKalb and Fulton counties reported relatively few cases of serious, drug-resistant staph infections to the state health department for the past three years. Experts are now wondering if Fulton and DeKalb doctors are failing to report MRSA cases in those counties. Fulton County health department officials already said they'll be taking a closer look at reporting.
C. diff has long been a common, usually benign bug associated with simple, easily treated diarrhea in older patients in hospitals and nursing homes. About 3 percent of healthy adults harbor the bacteria with no problem, but overuse of antibiotics has allowed the germ to develop resistance in recent years, creating the toxic new type that stumps traditional treatment. The potentially deadly bacteria responsible for at least 300,000 infections a year in U.S. hospitals, and experts now rank C. diff on par with MRSA as one of the top two infections acquired in hospitals.
The economic slowdown has swelled the ranks of people without health insurance, and now it is also threatening people who have insurance but find that the coverage is too limited or that they cannot afford their own share of medical costs. Higher premiums, less extensive coverage, and bigger out-of-pocket deductibles and co-payments are causing many of the 158 million people covered by employer health insurance to struggle to pay for medical expenses. Many doctors say the soft economy is even making some insured people hesitant to get care they need.