Safety First

AMA adopts policy that makes quality care part of physicians’ ethical responsibilities

Delegates at the American Medical Association's annual meeting recently approved a policy that would encourage physicians to take quality of care into consideration as an ethical part of their jobs, reports American Medical News.

Click here to read more.

[ via Patient Safety Monitor ]

MRSA legislation could require screening

New legislation recently introduced in Congress could require hospitals to screen patients for MRSA infections in order to prevent the spread of infection and protect healthcare workers, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

HR 2937, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-CA, and S 1305, the bill proposed in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, requires hospitals to submit MRSA rates to the public, as well. In the Worker Infection Protection Act, hospitals initially would be required to screen all patients admitted to high risk areas such as the ICU. By 2014 the bill would require hospitals to screen all incoming patients.

The bill would also create a new OSHA standard to protect healthcare workers and first responders, according to PolitickerNJ.com.

[ via Infection Control Weekly ]

Survey: Recession forcing reductions in infection control resources

According to a survey released June 9 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, many U.S. hospitals are having to reduce infection prevention staff and resources due to the economic recession. Forty-one percent of the 1,943 APIC members surveyed reported reductions in staff, resources and educational funding at their facilities in the prior 18 months, which they said affected their ability to perform rounds, surveillance, oversight and educate health care workers to prevent infections. In addition, more than half of respondents said public reporting mandates for healthcare-associated infections and other regulatory requirements have reduced their departments’ capacity to focus on infection prevention and control.

HRET to help implement AHRQ safety improvement measures

The Health Research & Educational Trust has been awarded a federal contract to facilitate broader use of hospital safety improvement resources developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. During the 20-month project, which begins June 1, HRET will work with American Hospital Association affiliates, state hospital associations, quality improvement organizations and national experts to provide free assistance to hospitals, health systems and policy makers to implement AHRQ safety and quality products and tools. HRET is an AHA affiliate.

Project critical of progress since IOM report on medical errors

In a new report, Consumers Union suggests hospitals aren’t doing enough to prevent medical errors and healthcare-associated infections. Ten years after the Institute of Medicine report “To Err is Human,” the organization’s Safe Patient Project claims “98%” of hospitals operate some type of internal reporting system but that “the voluntary, confidential nature of these systems prevents assessment of whether they have any impact on the safety of patients.”

The report calls for public reporting of facility-specific information on medical errors and audits to validate compliance. American Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said, “Today hospitals are safer and more transparent than at any time before. And we are actively striving to strengthen and expand our efforts to provide the safest possible care to our patients. Through the work of organizations like the Hospital Quality Alliance, the AHA Quality Center, the National Quality Forum and many more, we know that the culture of safety present at hospitals today will only grow into the next decade.”

IHI announces initiative to reduce rehospitalization

Similar to the CMS Care Transitions Project launched in April, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has announced its State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations Initiative (STAAR) in conjunction with The Commonwealth Fund.

The initiative, launched on May 1, aims to work at first with payors, hospitals, and patients in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Washington and will branch out as the project continues into the summer. The project will focus on transitions of care, and specifically at patient discharge from the hospital, in its first year of existence.

To read more about the initiative, click here.

[ via Patient Safety Monitor ]

Bill proposes to create White House quality improvement office

Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) on May 5 introduced the National Health Care Quality Act (H.R. 2252). According to the sponsors, the bill would create an Office of National Health Care Quality Improvement under the Executive Office of the President, which would work with public and private stakeholders to establish health care quality priorities for the nation, and coordinate quality improvement efforts across federal agencies. In addition, they said the bill would expand the authority of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality “to improve the public-private process for health care quality measure development and to streamline the implementation of quality improvement measures within federal health programs under the jurisdiction of HHS.”

Hospital care quality rising, but disparities continue

The quality of hospital care is improving at an annual rate of almost 3%, according to the National Healthcare Quality Report 2008, released May 6 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Hospitals continue to have the highest rate of quality improvement among the major health care delivery settings, with the four fastest improving measures all composites of Hospital Quality Alliance measures.

According to an associated report on health care disparities, also released May 6, at least 60% of quality measures have not improved for minorities compared to whites in the past six years. However, the death rate among African-American patients whose hospitalizations are complicated by pneumonia or other medical conditions has decreased to where it is now slightly better than whites; more Asian Americans are receiving mammograms to screen for breast cancer after age 40; and American Indian and Alaska Native surgery patients are now as likely as whites to receive the appropriate timing of antibiotics.

Discussing the reports at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on health care reform, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of $50 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to help states fight health care-associated infections.

[ via AHA News Now ]

NQF seeks input on proposed outcome measures

The National Quality Forum is asking for comments on 11 proposed outcomes measures as part of its standards for outcomes and efficiency program.

The standards-endorsing body released its draft report of 11 measures addressing mortality rates following various cardiac procedures as well as postoperative respiratory failure, esophagus and pancreatic surgeries. The NQF intended for the report to also include efficiency measures; however, all of the 20 measures submitted for consideration focused on outcomes. Comments on the draft report are due May 21 and must be submitted online. The NQF expects to announce a final endorsement by the end of July.

This is the second phase of the standards program, which last year focused on readmission rates. The NQF in October endorsed two measures in 30-day readmission rates following acute myocardial infarction and 30-day rates following a pneumonia hospitalization during the first phase.

[ via Jean DerGurahian, Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose ]

AHRQ seek hospitals for study of patient safety indicators

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality seeks hospitals to participate in the second phase of a pilot study to validate the agency’s patient safety indicators. The phase II study, which will run from May through September, will focus on five of the indicators. For more information, see the AHRQ notice.