California health investigators have found no health violations in an inspection of Fresno-based Saint Agnes Medical Center following an infection outbreak in the hospital's cardiac surgery unit. At least 12 Saint Agnes patients contracted life-threatening bacterial infections between January 2007 and September 2007. Hospital officials said the infection rate returned to normal since then, and current patients are not at risk for infections.
A Rhode Island bill requiring hospitals to report all hospital-borne infections within 72 hours is moving swiftly through the General Assembly. The bill's sponsor, Hanna M. Gallo, said she was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from Rhode Islanders with stories about friends and loved ones who acquired devastating infections or complications as the result of hospital stays. There are those who question the bill's effectiveness, however, saying it could divert resources away from battling infections in the hospitals themselves.
During a recent visit to Boston, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt said the increasing number of incentives to provide more and more procedures is the largest contributor to rising health costs. To help streamline costs, Leavitt said the country needs a central billing system monetary quality incentives.
Lisa McGiffert, an analyst for Consumers Union is criticizing Iowa's idea of letting a private group cofounded by the Iowa Hospital Association handle patient safety data instead of having government officials do it. The proposal would require hospitals to report patient-safety and pricing information to a group called the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative. The Collaborative was founded by the Iowa Hospital Association and the Iowa Medical Society, and McGiffert says she is concerned the data may be biased as a result.
Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah is asking patients to anonymously rate their doctors' bedside manner and things like ease of parking and check-in efficiency on a scale of 1 to 5. Those scores have been available online, and soon customers will be able to post comments about their experiences at the insurer's Web site.
A Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll shows most adults favor the use of patient satisfaction surveys to determine healthcare quality above all other quality measures. Of those surveyed, more than half said it is also fair to measure healthcare quality based on the use of electronic medical records.