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Hospital readmission rates are an important indicator of patient safety. This cross-sectional study examined whether patients admitted to hospitals with high readmission rates also had higher risks of in-hospital adverse events. Based on a sample of over 46,000 Medicare patients with pneumonia discharged between July 2010 and December 2019 and linked to Medicare adverse event data, researchers found that patients admitted to hospitals with high all-cause readmission rates were more likely to experience an adverse event during their admission.

Achieving high reliability is a goal for every healthcare organization. Based on interviews with hospital leadership, clinicians, and staff, this study explored how healthcare professionals understand and perceive high-reliability principles. Findings indicate that some principles are more supported than others and identified inconsistent understanding of principles across different types of healthcare professionals.

Computerized provider order entry has become standard practice for most medication ordering. This article reports on the safety and efficiency of ordering mixed-drug infusions before and after implementation of electronic prescribing. After implementation, rates of prescription errors, time to process discharge orders, and time between prescription and administration all decreased.

Delays in diagnosis and treatment can lead to poor outcomes for patients. Researchers reviewed root cause analysis (RCA) reports to identify factors contributing to delays in diagnosis and treatment among surgical patients at the Veterans Health Administration. Of the 163 RCAs identified, 73% reflected delays in treatment, 15% reflected delays in diagnosis, and 12% reflected delays in surgery. Policies and processes (e.g., lack of standardized processes, procedures not followed correctly) was the largest contributing factor, followed by communication challenges, and equipment or supply issues.

In 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) introduced a 16-hour shift limit for first-year residents. Recent studies found that these duty hour requirements did not yield significant differences in patient outcomes and the ACGME eliminated the shift limit for first-year residents in 2017. To assess the impact of work-hour limits on medical errors, this study prospectively followed two cohorts of resident physicians matched into US residency programs before (2002-2007) and after (2014-2016) the introduction of the work-hour limits. After adjustment for potential confounders, the work-hour limit was associated with decreased risk of resident-reported significant medical errors (32% risk reduction), reported preventable adverse events (34% risk reduction), and reported medical errors resulting in patient death (63% risk reduction).

Balancing autonomy and supervision is an ongoing challenge in medical training. This study explored how residents’ networking with senior physicians influences advice-seeking behaviors and medical errors. Findings suggest that residents made fewer errors when they consulted with fewer senior physicians overall and consulted more frequently with focal senior physicians (i.e., physicians sought out by other residents frequently for consults).

Organizational culture can influence willingness to speak up about patient safety concerns. Based on focus groups and interviews with nurses, advanced practice providers, and physicians, this study found that the hierarchical culture of medicine presents a barrier to speaking up about safety concerns, but that certain factors (institutional, interpersonal, and individual) can modulate the impact of hierarchy. Interventions to promote speaking up behaviors should focus on engaging leaders across the institution and within the hierarchy.

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.

Hospital transmission of COVID-19 has necessitated review of organization infection prevention and control (IPC) policies and practices. This study, conducted before the pandemic, compared IPC attitudes and practices of nurses and physicians, and how these differences affect interpersonal relationships. Both professions described unflattering and stereotypical behaviors of the other (i.e., doctors are unaware or disdainful of IPC; “bossy” nurses).  Many IPC policies implemented during the pandemic, such as encouraging all healthcare workers to speak up about infection prevention breaches, were accepted by both professions, and the authors recommend seizing on this interprofessional unity to continue adherence to all IPC policies.

Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) refers to a system in which clinicians directly place orders electronically to be sent to the receiver (e.g., pharmacist). This French hospital analyzed hospital discharge orders (HDO) over a six-month period to evaluate the use rate of CPOE, prescription concordance between CPOE-edited HDO, exit prescriptions transcribed in the discharge summary, and prescribing error rate. Use of CPOE and pharmacist intervention reduced prescribing errors of hospital discharge orders.

Patient safety dashboards are used to communicate real-time patient data to appropriately augment care. This study found that higher usage of an electronic patient safety dashboard resulted in lower 30-day readmission rates among patients discharged from adult medicine units compared to lower usage groups.