All Entries in the "Leapfrog" Category

One facility employs ’scribes’ to ease transition from paper to electronic records

Today’s USA Today has an interesting article about one hospital’s transition to an electronic system from using paper records. The University of Virginia Medical Center has been employing scribes to aid doctors in capturing the necessary information that comes out of a consult or appointment with a patient. The scribes follow physicians to these consults and use laptops to type notes into the electronic medical record (EMR). Then the physicians sign off that the information is correct after he or she has finished speaking with the patient. That way physicians can give all of their attention to their patients and don’t have to worry about filling in fields in the EMR.

Leah Binder, CEO of the Leapfrog Group, told the paper that this model may work for now at the facility, but she doubted it would see widespread adoption. This is because there’s a chance for mistakes to enter the patient’s record, even if physicians read over the record.

The article said this was the only facility in the country to use scribes during the paper-to-electronic switch. Have you ever heard of this idea? Has your hospital developed some other creative method for easing the transition?

Leapfrog report shows lack of quality improvement in hospitals

The Leapfrog Group released a report yesterday that  says hospitals have done too little to make quality and patient safety a priority during the last 10 years. The group’s CEO, Leah Binder, said that as a nation,”we have a long way to go to achieve hospital quality and cost-effectiveness worthy of the nation’s $2.3 trillion annual investment.”

Why was Leapfrog so negative about quality within U.S. hospitals? Of the 1,276 hospitals that voluntarily took part in its survey, with results as of December 31, 2008, only 7% reported they are fully compliant with medication error prevention standards. Also, for those standards that Leapfrog calls “efficiency” standards (those that show the highest quality of care with the smallest amount of resources dedicated to them) 24% of hospitals meet the standards for for heart bypass surgery, 21% for heart angioplasty, 14% for heart attack care, and 14% for pneumonia care.

If you click here, you will be able to compare results from individual participating hospitals.

Some other sobering statistics:

• 65% of hospitals don’t have all recommended policies in place to prevent HAIs
• 75% of hospitals do not  fully employ the use of 13 evidence-based safety practices identified by the group
• Only 30% of hospitals meet standards to prevent hospital-acquired pressure ulcers

Some of the bright spots in the report include a jump from 10% to 31% compliance with Leapfrog’s ICU staffing standard from 2002 through 2008. Additionally, 60% of hospitals have agreed to implement the group’s Never Event policy when serious events occur within their facilities.

You can click here to find the full report.

Do you think this report from The Leapfrog Group presents an accurate pictures of quality in America’s hospitals today? It is certainly one of the more “downer” type of reports I’ve seen in the past few months about quality improvement and patient safety in U.S. hospitals. Is your hospital struggling with any of these specific areas? I don’t doubt that hospitals struggle with many of these areas, but I was surprised to see such low levels of compliance.

Welcome to PSM Blog

Hi, everyone. I’d like to officially welcome you to the Patient Safety Monitor Blog. We plan to use this venue to present information about patient safety regulations and requirements that affect hospitals, both on a federal and state level. We’ll also highlight new features and information added to the Patient Safety Monitor Crosswalk and site, as well as anything else we deem interesting or worthwhile. My colleague Tami Swartz and I will write the majority of the posts here, but when news breaks that requires additional analysis, we’ll turn to our prestigious PSM advisors for their tips and advice. The blog will be updated daily and occasionally more often than that if warranted, so please check regularly. And don’t be shy about leaving comments or asking questions.  Thanks for stopping by!