CMS has begun adopting the preventable quality indicators (PQI) rate into its incentive and penalty program as a way to measure the number of preventable hospital admissions. However, PQI rates only agree with physicians' assessments 10% of the time.
On March 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Olympus Corp. with paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to hospitals and doctors to buy its products. The company, which owns 85% of the U.S. endoscope market, has agreed to pay $646 million to resolve the criminal charges and civil charges...
On February 24, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Robert Califf, MD, as the new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. The Senate vote in Califf’s favor was 89-4, ending a yearlong debate over his suitability.
There were 1,089 patient suicides logged into the Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Database between 2010 and 2014; overall, suicides were the 10th leading cause of death in America in 2013, resulting in 41,149 deaths.
Healthcare can be a stressful industry to work in, particularly when something goes wrong. Instead of relying on humans to react under pressure, one organization is offering a structured approach to patient safety failures.
For the last two years, healthcare organizations have been working to comply with the first phase of The Joint Commission's alarm management National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG). As of January 1, 2016, they'll have to contend with the second phase as well.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 26, Issue 3
A report released by a leading patient safety organization emphasizes the importance of safety culture as part of a broader call for healthcare facilities to transition to a "total systems approach" to care.