The PSNet Collection

CMS proposal to suppress hospital safety data angers advocates — agency says COVID disruptions, staff shortages hamper ability to fairly score poor performers.

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Clark C. MedPage Today. May 20, 2022.

Public reporting of safety measures is considered a hallmark of health care transparency. This article discusses a proposed change to reporting requirements in the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP). The change would limit the sharing of patient safety indicator data that informs Care Compare and hospital Medicare reimbursements.

Final Report of the Ockenden Review.

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London UK: Crown Copyright; March 30, 2022. ISBN: 9781528632294.

Maternal and baby harm in healthcare is a sentinel event manifested by systemic failure. This report serves as the final conclusions of an investigation into 250 cases at a National Health System (NHS) trust. The authors share overarching system improvement suggestions and high-priority recommendations to initiate NHS maternity care improvement.

Woman works to end Black maternal health crisis after daughter dies after giving birth.

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Kindelan K. ABC News. April 14, 2022.

Maternal injury is a persistent challenge in the Black community. This article discusses the case of one mother whose discounted health concerns contributed to diagnostic delay and death. The piece shares social media tools to assist Black mothers in keeping themselves safe during pregnancy and after birth.

HEAR Her Concerns.

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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Maternal harm during and after pregnancy is a sentinel event. This campaign encourages women, families, and health providers to identify and speak up with concerns about maternal care and act on them. The program seeks to inform the design of support systems and tool development that enhance maternal safety.

Deficiencies after the New Electronic Health Record Go-Live at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, WA.

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Washington, DC: VA Office of Inspector General; March 17, 2022.

Electronic health record (EHR) implementation failures cause major disruptions to care delivery that can result in inefficiencies, misinformation, and unsafe care. This three-part investigation examines the impact of the new United States Veterans Affairs EHR system problems on medication management, care coordination, and problem reporting and resolution at one facility.

Nowhere is safe: record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in January.

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Levy R, Vestal AJ. Politico. February 19, 2022.

Transmission of COVID-19 in the health care setting continues to be a concern. This article discusses an analysis of US government statistics tracking hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections and reasons that control efforts may be lagging, which include visitor masking choices and health care worker return to work post-COVID-19 behaviors.

Medicare penalizes dozens of hospitals it also gives five stars.

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Rau J. Kaiser Health News. February 8, 2022.

Rating systems face challenges to accurately represent the safety and quality of patient care. This article discusses inconsistent results between national rating systems and those organizations penalized by the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program though reduction of Medicare payments for hospitals recording certain adverse events.

COVID Risk In Hospitals.

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Weber L, Jewett C. Kaiser Health News. 2021-2022.

The infectious nature of COVID continues to impact the safety of hospitalized patients. This article series examines factors contributing to hospital-acquired COVID-19 infection that include weaknesses in oversight, patient legal protections, and documentation.

Agency information collection activities: National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN); comment request.

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Zirger JM, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fed Register. September 27, 2021;86:53309-53312.

Tracking healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data aids in national, regional, and organizational design of HAI improvement efforts. This notice calls for public comment on the continuation of the National Healthcare Safety Network HAI information collection process. The comment period closes November 26, 2021.

A crisis within a crisis.

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Ellis NT, Broaddus A. CNN. August 25, 2021.

Maternal safety is an ongoing challenge worldwide. This news feature examines how the COVID pandemic has revealed disparities and implicit biases that impact the maternal care of black women. The stories shared highlight experiences of mothers with preventable pregnancy-related complications.

Do black and white patients experience similar rates of adverse safety events at the same hospital?

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Gangopadhyaya A. Washington DC; Urban Institute: July 2021.

Racial inequities have been revealed by the COVID pandemic as a distinct patient safety concern. This report examined racial differences using patient safety indicators to measure hospital-acquired conditions, insurance coverage, and hospital patient population. The results indicate Black patients have reduced safety, that insurance coverage had little influence on safety and hospitals with a higher Black patient population experienced more adverse events that those serving a white patient population.

Recognizing Unsafe Care: What It Is and How to Report It.

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Patient Safety Foundation. August 26, 2021.

This webinar introduced medical error and harm as related concepts to identify unsafe care and enhance response, engagement, and reporting efforts of clinicians, patients and families.

'There is a real cost’: as Covid shows, barring bedside visitors from ICU deprives patients of the best care.

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Renault M. Stat. July 28, 2021.

Care and safety concerns for patients, families, and clinicians continue to be challenged by COVID-19. This article discusses the unintended consequences of isolation practices during the pandemic as a contributor to patient harm due to resultant family support barriers and loneliness they caused.

Unite for Safe Care.

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Patient Safety Movement. September 17, 2021.

Patient safety is a global challenge for the health care community. This webinar coincided with World Patient Safety Day and presented two tracks for both the profession and the public that highlighted issues impacting maternal care safety and high reliability. Those who have lost their lives to medical error were also honored during the event. The session speakers included Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, Jeff Brady, MD, and Albert Wu, MD.

Peer Review of a Report on Strategies to Improve Patient Safety.

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Washington DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; 2021. ISBN: 9780309462808.

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 requires the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in consultation with the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to prepare a report for Congress on effective strategies for reducing medical errors and increasing patient safety and on measures to encourage the appropriate use of such strategies. The Act also requires that a draft of the report be made available for public comment and review by the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)). This publication reflects NAM’s review of the draft report. HHS is in the process of preparing a final report due to Congress in December 2021.

Public comment period extended for strategies to improve patient safety: Draft Report to Congress for Public Comment and Review by the National Academy of Medicine.

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Fed Register. 2021;86(51):14752-14753.

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 created a framework that supports efforts to improve patient safety and reduce the incidence of adverse events. It also requires the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to prepare a draft report on effective strategies for improving patient safety and encouraging the use of effective improvement strategies. The deadline for public comment on the draft report has now passed.

In U.S. nursing homes, where Covid-19 killed scores, even reports of maggots and rape don’t dock five-star ratings.

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Silver-Greenberg J, Gebeloff R. New York Times. March 13, 2021.

The value of rating systems can be challenged by bias and misinterpretation due to a variety of factors. This article outlines how nursing home patients fell victim to both systemic and care failings in the US nursing homes, yet their facilities still ranked high in a national rating system. The authors discuss failures including the lack of data auditing and a focus on ratings rather than quality.

7 ways to prevent medical errors.

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Caceres V. US News World Report. March 1, 2021.

Patients and families have an important role in reducing potential for error and harm. This article highlights a set of tactics for patients to enhance the safety of their care that include preparing for doctor’s appointments, asking questions and seeking second opinions.

Harmed Patient Alliance.

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United Kingdom.

Patients and families that experience medical harm have unique support needs. This organization works to improve health system and clinician response to harmed patients. Their efforts aim to create a deeper understanding of the factors contributing to lack of response to concerns to enhance existing processes.

Think health care workers are tested often for the Coronavirus? Think again.

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Wamsley L. National Public Radio and WBUR. December 7, 2020.

Testing for COVID-19 is a core public safety strategy for pandemic management. This news story discusses how a lack of health care workers’ virus status knowledge could contribute to spread. Barriers inherent to a universal testing strategy include operational challenges, patient testing volume, and availability of health care workers to provide care during the pandemic should clinicians test positive.

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