All Entries in the "Doctor rankings" Category
Patient safety affected by old age
As people reach old age, their family and friends often recommend that they put their car keys down and stop driving. But are older people being advised to put down their scalpels or their forceps?
Patient mortality is higher when surgeons are older than 60, according to a 2006 Annals of Surgery study. This statistic was illustrated by a recent New York Times article that found one-third of the country’s physicians are older than 65.
The article examined how many physicians continue practicing well into old age and raised the question of physicians in practice who may be suffering from dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and other aging diseases. Experts warn that there are not enough safeguards in place to keep patients safe from physicians who are too old to be practicing.
While physicians do have to meet some requirements to practice, such as completing a certain amount of hours in medical education every year or two, experts are concerned these requirements are not rigorous enough.
Some experts are suggesting competency screenings once physicians reach 65 or 70 years old. They note that commercial pilots are required to retire at age 65.
Does a physician’s age affect the way he or she performs? How can this be a risk to patient safety?
Johns Hopkins patient safety program gives hope to other hospitals
A study at the 1,000-bed Johns Hopkins Hospital found that even in a big, multifaceted facility, an approved set of patient safety programs can result in an improvement in the “culture of safety.”
“It doesn’t take decades or tons of money to get from a culture that says ‘mistakes are inevitable’ to a belief that harm is entirely preventable,” said Peter Pronovost, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study published online Dec. 2 in the journal Quality and Safety in Health Care.
As reported in The Johns Hopkins University Gazette, the study, done from 2006-2008, was based around the implementation of CUSP, a comprehensive unit-based safety program. CUSP was designed to make mistakes more transparent, embraced discussions about improving communication and teamwork, and required buy-in from senior leadership.
Another way Johns Hopkins wanted to improve the culture of safety was by adding an electronic event-reporting system. The patient safety office of the hospital looks at Events that are reported and then gives them to the appropriate team.
Staff members at Johns Hopkins were surveyed annually from 2006 to 2008 to determine whether the program was working. During the first year of the study, 55% of the units accomplished the changes that were given to them in safety. In 2008, 82% accomplished it.
Pronovost said that if a large institution such as Johns Hopkins can achieve such gains in culture, smaller hospitals may be able to achieve even more success.
“If we can do it in our organization, it’s much easier to do in smaller institutions,” he said. “In this case, size is a limitation.”
How have you worked to improve the culture of safety at your organization?
New product assists physicians in acknowledging patient satisfaction
A new resource will assist physicians in receiving feedback on their patients’ satisfaction.
The American Medical Association (AMA) partnered with Press Ganey in South Bend, Ind, to create RealTime, which grants physicians access to their patients’ email addresses, reports American Medical News.
When a patient arrives, the physician asks if he or she has interest in taking a survey detailing their visit. The patient satisfaction survey is sent to the patient’s e-mail address directly after the visit. RealTime works through personalization. Survey results are broken down and the comments are analyzed. The information from the survey can be compared with anonymous data from other practices, reports American Medical News.
RealTime helps physicians know if their patient is satisfied during their hospital visit.
Does your healthcare facility use a product like this? How would it be beneficial to the patient satisfaction rate? Let us know in our comment section.
Survey: Patients happy with physicians, want specific recommendations
A new survey out from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions shows that most patients still want their doctor’s honest opinion and recommendations for care. However, more and more patients want their physicians to offer more treatment options and also offer the ability to shop around for care. A recent article in American Medical News highlighted some of the survey’s findings.
Interesting to note is the fact that the third of patients who describe themselves as “content and compliant” with their own care are older patients who may have different priorities than younger patients. Sources in the article suggest that doctors try to keep up with the times and adapt to patients’ needs by offering online follow-up information and resources.
One other perhaps unsurprising find, given the economy, is that a greater number of patients think about cost when it comes to deciding on a treatment.
Ready for the Zagat guide to docs?
Zagat is renowned for its guides to restaurants, hotels, spas, and other topics. But the company’s latest guides ask patients covered by insurer WellPoint to post reviews of their physicians and include ratings on trust, communication, and other categories, the New York Times reports.
The guides are limited for online viewing by WellPoint customers. The doctors guides were introduced in California, Connecticut, and North Carolina, but physicians in those states were not thrilled by the concept, according to the Times.
Zagat sells 650,000 copies of its annual New York restaurant guide. But it has begun to license the Zagat name and brand to other companies such as WellPoint, Google, Priceline.com, and liquor distributor Diageo.
The Zagat reviews are currently available to 2 million WellPoint and Anthem members, designed to provide patients with feedback to help them choose specialists. More than 75% of patients were posting comments and 88% of them recommended their doctor, the Times reports.
Is this a useful tool or a popularity contest with no real medical value?
