Dec 14, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Response to comments from Dennis Ernst of the Center for Phlebotomy Education
Recently Dark Daily alerted clinical laboratory readers to a decision by The Joint Commission to change their requirements for patient identification. Included was the opinion of Dennis Ernst, MT(ASCP), long time Director of the Center for Phlebotomy Education, that The Joint Commission’s decision to change patient identification requirements was a step backwards in patient safety. (See Dark Daily, “Joint Commission Changes Requirement for Patient ID during Blood Draws” ).
In particular, Ernst was troubled that the new patient identification protocols no longer require a healthcare worker to have the patient state his or her name before blood is drawn. He contacted The Joint Commission to inquire about this change. He related to Dark Daily that officials at TJC had informed him that, in their surveys of clients, there was a feeling that this specific requirement was “burdensome and unnecessary.”
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Oct 30, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Guest Commentary by: Mark Graban
Clinical laboratory professionals and leaders should be reminded that their accountability for quality and patient safety does not end at the instrument or the microscope—at least from the general public’s perception and the needs of patients.
This summer, I was walking through Boston Common and saw a woman with a homemade sign with a message about patient safety. I stopped and asked about her sign. She reminded me it was July 25, the annual observance of National Patient Safety Day.
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Oct 26, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Advanced use of EHRs is one characteristic of nation’s quality leaders
It’s a new study and ranking of top-performing health systems that Dark Daily readers will find interesting and useful. Thomson Reuters announced its latest Top 10 rankings, and identified three main ingredients for attaining higher-quality outcomes. They were: 1) a corporate-level coordinating committee; 2) ample involvement in planning from front-line caregivers; and a system-wide electronic health record system (EHR).
Thomson-Reuters evaluated 252 health systems, representing 1,720 hospitals. Its findings were published exclusively in Modern Healthcare. Its rating was based on five clinical performance measures: mortality, complications, patient safety, length-of-stay and use of evidence-based medicine. No attempt was made to measure financial performance. The health systems study used 2007 information from two public databases, the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare.
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Sep 8, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
3,000 pathologists gather to hear just-published studies and learn about the newest assays
DATELINE: FLORENCE, ITALY—As many as 3,000 pathologists from nations across the globe have gathered in Florence this week for the 22nd Annual European Congress of Pathology. Your Dark Daily Editor is here to give a presentation and learn about the most important new trends in pathology and laboratory medicine.
This large conference offers a rich menu of topics and a multitude of speakers. As to be expected, almost all sessions are about clinical services and advances in diagnostic technologies that enhance the ability of pathologists to diagnose disease. However, the patient safety trend—although not purely a clinical issue—has been a common theme here this week. Few presentations are delivered that don’t include some comments about patient safety.
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Jul 17, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Goal is to improve patient safety and health outcomes, but who is going to pay?
Pathologists are aware of the ongoing debate about the overwork of medical residents, who traditionally worked 100 or more hours per week. Medical experts regularly point out how overworking medical residents may result in fatigue-related adverse events that negatively affect patient safety. These adverse events cost teaching hospitals money in additional care and/or malpractice claims. Now comes a new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) which determined that it remains more profitable to continue this practice than to hire extra help.
The study, Cost Implications of Reduced Work Hours and Workloads for Resident Physicians, was conducted by researchers from UCLA and the RAND Corp, a nonprofit research facility in Los Angeles. The study was initiated in response to recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to limit medical resident work hours.
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