adverse events
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Diagnostic Errors Top ECRI Institute’s Patient Safety Concerns for 2018
ECRI Institute names diagnostic errors the number one concern on its 2018 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations. Each year, approximately 1 in 20 adults experiences a diagnostic error, according to published studies. These errors and delays can lead to care gaps, repeat testing, unnecessary procedures, and patient harm. “Diagnostic errors are not only common, but they can have serious consequences," says Gail M. Horvath, MSN, RN, CNOR, CRCST, patient safety analyst, ECRI Institute. "A lot of hospital deaths that were attributed to the normal course of disease may have been the result of diagnostic error."
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Dr. Don Berwick: Medical Error Is The Third Leading Cause Of Death In The US
The two most common causes of death in the United States are medical: heart disease and cancer, respectively. According to a new study, the third cause could also be medical—in a terrifying way. According to research published in the British Medical Journal, medical errors in hospitals and other medical facilities could be the third leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming 250,000 lives every year. One of the study’s authors wrote, “it boils down to people dying from the care that they receive, rather than the disease for which they are seeking care”...
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Ebola, Electronic Medical Records, and Epic Systems
A Dallas hospital’s bizarre bungle of the first U.S. case of Ebola leaves me wondering: Is someone covering up for a crony billionaire Obama donor and her controversy-plagued, taxpayer-subsidized electronic medical records company? Last week, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital revealed in a statement that a procedural flaw in its online health records system led to potentially deadly miscommunication between nurses and doctors. The facility sent Ebola victim Thomas Duncan home despite showing signs of the disease—only to admit him with worse symptoms three days later.
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Hazards Tied to Medical Records Rush
Subsidies given for computerizing, but no reporting required when errors cause harm
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Joint Commission Issues Sentinel Event Alert On EHR Safety Risks
Safe use of health information technology (health IT) is the focus of a new Sentinel Event Alert released today by The Joint Commission. The new alert examines the contributing factors to sentinel events that are health IT-related and includes suggested solutions to be implemented by health care organizations. It builds on Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 42, issued in 2008, which focused on safely implementing health information and converging technologies. Read More »
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Opening Up the FDA
The President's Executive Order on Open Government Data states, "Government information shall be managed as an asset throughout its life cycle to promote interoperability and openness, and, wherever possible and legally permissible, to ensure that data are released to the public in ways that make the data easy to find, accessible, and usable." Interestingly, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), has a tradition of expansive disclosure of information and/or data it generates or collects – contrary to current practices at the FDA. Hopefully, changes being made to 'open up' the FDA will start to accelerate. Read More »