Hospitals that implement quality improvement initiatives improve patient safety but also incur financial expenses related to implementation, sustainment, and reporting. This study used data from the American Hospital Association and Hospital Compare to evaluate the relationship of financial performance and quality in hospitals performing cardiac surgery. The findings indicate hospitals with lower Patient Safety Indicator 90 (PSI 90) scores had poorer financial performance in the following year.

Legal and policy approaches are used to achieve sustained safety improvements. This review characterized the body of evidence regarding patient safety and its legal implications. Four approaches to improving safety were commonly covered in the literature – liability system reforms, new forms of regulation, increased transparency, and financial incentives.

Medicare’s Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program financially incentivizes hospitals to reduce HAC rates and earlier research has shown hospitals in more diverse areas have higher odds of performing poorly. This study compares HAC reduction in Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals and examines potential racial and ethnic disparities. Similar to an earlier study, Magnet hospitals had significant improvements in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rates, but not other HACs.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older adults can increase the risk of adverse drug events (ADEs). This systematic review assessed increased healthcare costs associated with ADEs related to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among older adults. Higher costs were due to increases in hospitalizations, health care expenses, and emergency department visits. Costs were higher among patients with more than one PIM, patients older than 75 years of age, patients with dementia, and patients with other drug interactions.

Patient complaints can provide insights into safety threats and system weaknesses. This study used the healthcare complaints analysis tool (HCAT) to identify and categorize safety problems in emergency care. Most problems arose during examination/diagnosis and frequently resulted in diagnostic errors or errors of omission.

While quality and patient safety initiatives are implemented to improve patient outcomes, they also typically include a financial cost which must be balanced with expected outcomes. This study compared hospitals’ financial performance (i.e., financial margin and risk of financial distress) and outcomes (i.e., 30-day readmission rates, patient safety indicator-90 (PSI-90)) using data from the American Hospital Association and Hospital Compare. Hospitals in the best quintiles of readmission rates and PSI-90 scores had higher operating margins compared to the lowest rated hospitals.

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), imposes a financial penalty on hospitals with higher than average readmission rates for certain conditions. Six years of readmission rates for four conditions included in the HRRP (acute myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia) and two conditions not included (septicemia and mood disorders) were analyzed to assess the impact of the HRRP. The researchers conclude the HRRP reduced readmission rates for the four targeted conditions, but reductions were not consistent across all categories of patients.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in poorer patient outcomes and increased costs. The 2016 national data set of five common HAIs (surgical site infections, catheter- and line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associate urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and Clostridioides difficile) was analyzed to create an estimated national cost. Clostridioides difficile was the most frequently reported; Clostridioides difficile and surgical site infections accounted for 79% of costs.

Experts have advocated the importance of establishing the business case for safety. This article summarizes approaches to establishing the business case for safety through the use of telehealth case-based vignettes as examples. The authors discuss challenges for establishing a business case for safety and future directions.

Hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) are thought to be preventable, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reduce payments to hospitals with the highest rates of these conditions through its Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP). This study evaluated surgical HACs at three timepoints: before Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, after ACA implementation, and after HACRP. While the number of HACs continued to decline after implementation of HACRP, it did not affect 30-day mortality.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently used to assist with many healthcare practices, including diagnosing cancer, detecting deterioration, and medication reconciliations. As the use of AI continues to expand, regulators and legal experts will need to consider how to manage compensation for patients who have experienced medical errors. This commentary suggests no-fault compensation as a possible solution. 

Newly diagnosed cancer patients may request second opinions to confirm diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis. This study evaluated the pathology-specific reimbursement for cases originating at the primary site, a comprehensive cancer center, and cases originating at affiliate sites and referred to the cancer center for second opinions. Results confirmed that second opinions can reduce diagnostic errors and potentially lower costs of subsequent treatment; however, ways to improve the cost and process of receiving a second opinion should be explored.

Quality measurement is increasingly being incorporated into policies outlining healthcare provider reimbursement. This study compared quality measure calculations between an individual electronic health record (EHR) source and the same EHR source combined with health information exchange (HIE) data. The results show that adding HIE data changed 15% of quality measure calculations. The authors suggest that incorporating HIE data into reimbursement programs could promote more accurate and representative quality measurement.