CMS Pauses Plans to Limit Public Knowledge of Medical and Surgical Harm at Hospitals During COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthcare industry watchdog Group Leapfrog says that if CMS suppresses the data “all of us will be in the dark on which hospitals put us most at risk” For some time, hospitals and clinical laboratories have struggled with transparency regulation when it comes to patient outcomes, test prices, and costs. So, it is perplexing that while that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pushes for more transparency in the cost of hospital care and quality, the federal agency also sought to...

Leapfrog Group Report Shows Hospitals Failing to Eliminate Hospital-Acquired Infections; Medical Laboratories Can Help Providers’ Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs

Contrary to CMS and Joint Commission programs implemented in 2017 to reduce them, incidents of hospital-acquired infections have risen for the past few years Clinical laboratories and anatomic pathologists know that hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) can be deadly, not just for patients, but for their caregivers and families as well. Even one HAI is too many. Thus, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required healthcare organizations to upgrade their antimicrobial...

Leapfrog Group CEO Wants Healthcare Professionals to Stop Rallying Behind Quality Measure Critics

Binder argues that groups opposing ‘value’ often diminish clinicians’ role in hospital quality and patient outcomes; clinical labs often have the data on the outcomes generated by different clinicians As healthcare moves steadily toward a value-based reimbursement model, Leapfrog Group CEO Leah Binder is urging healthcare providers to rethink their opposition to quality measures and criteria that reward improved medical outcomes. “Clinicians have a choice: Seize the momentum of the value...

Leapfrog Study Shows Hospital Use of CPOE Can Affect Clinical Pathology Laboratory Test Utilization

Study Finds Weaknesses in the Performance Of CPOE System in Daily Care Settings Many experts believe that wider use of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems can contribute to the better utilization of clinical pathology laboratory tests. CPOE is considered one method for helping the physician order the right medical laboratory test for the patient at the right time—then use the clinical lab test results to implement the most appropriate therapy. CPOE is an important...

National Standards Emerging for Patient ID in Hospitals

Use of colored wristbands is widespread in hospitals across the country. Different colors signify such things about a patient, such as allergies, a “do not resuscitate” order, and fall risk. But the widespread use of colored patient wristbands in hospitals has lacked uniformity across the country. Different hospitals use the same color to code for different things. This is often a problems when doctors and nurses work at more than one hospital where wrist band colors mean different things. In...
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