Happy Thanksgiving!
Do We Need to Start a Revolution? – This is the question asked by Fred N. Pelzman, MD, who writes:
Over and over again, we were told about the sorry state of the U.S. healthcare system, how we are first in cost and last in quality, and there’s something inherently wrong with the way “we” take care of people in this country.
No one can deny this, that there is incredible waste, that we do things without great evidence (or often ignore evidence altogether), that our systems are tremendously inefficient.
Shortcomings in Access, Coordination, and Patient-Centered Care
If taking care of older patients is an accurate barometer of how the US healthcare system in general is performing, a recent 11-nation survey by the Commonwealth Fund paints a rather gloomy picture:
Patient Safety Tips
So, with that note, this week’s readings contain tips.
Make Health Technology Safer
In this interview with Institute for Healthcare Improvement Executive Director and patient safety expert, Frank Federico, RPh (who we are proud to say is on our advisory board) offers these tips to make health technology safer.
Keep Children Safer
Hats off to American Academy of Sleep Medicine for advocating for two years for the use of capnography to pediatric polysomnography (used to evaluate infants and children with suspected pathologic central apnea, periodic breathing or central hypoventilation).
Report Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Death and Near Misses
The Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine and the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project have established a registry to investigate unanticipated perioperative deaths and near misses in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. To learn about how to submit a case, please click here.
The Joint Commissions Hospital National Patient Safety Goals
Ok, these are not tips … but, take heed of these 2015 goals by The Joint Commission.
Would you quit because of alarm fatigue?
We wouldn’t be capturing all of the must-reads if we didn’t mention this article on physician turnover because of alarm fatigue. It has picked up quite a bit of attention on Twitter.
#EHR Alarm Fatigue May Lead Physicians to Quit Their Jobs | #EHRAlarms #EHRBacklash #EHROptimization http://t.co/CguqrLcf5S
— EHR Intelligence (@EHRIntel) November 20, 2014