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NH might fine hospitals that fail to report infection rates
If pending legislation in New Hampshire is passed, the state will begin fining hospitals that fail to report infection rates $1,000 a day, according to the Eagle Tribune.
In 2007, NH required hospitals to report infection rates but lacked funding for the reporting mechanism, leading some hospitals to forego reporting to the state.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Leo Pepino, R-Manchester, proposed the bill after finding other states imposed fines for failure to report. Pepino also has a personal stake in the matter–when his wife received care for cancer treatments in the hospital, she had frequent hospital-acquired infections.
Proposed patient safety group looks to aviation model to improve processes
A paper published in the most recent issue of Health Affairs highlights some of the areas in which patient safety could be improved by utilizing aviation principles. A new proposed patient safety group, the Public Private Partnership to Promote Patient Safety (P5S), seeks to improve healthcare and reduce medical errors by adopting the same techniques that the aviation industry used to reduce fatal accidents. The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) has been meeting regularly since the mid-1990s to collaborate as an industry on how to make it safer by analyzing accident reports and making recommendations.
A team of researchers led by Peter Pronovost, MD, spells out in its paper exactly what a team like CAST could do for healthcare. There are many different barriers present in bringing this model to healthcare, but the central idea—that the healthcare industry as a whole should work together to reduce sentinel events—remains the same. This model would include every part of the healthcare continuum- from staff practices within the hospital to the way in which medical equipment is manufactured.
Some of the barriers listed in the paper include:
- Funding—the aviation industry depended on group members to finance and send staff members to participate in CAST. The healthcare industry has fewer resources with which to use for initiatives like this. One option is government funding, and although the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality supports this initiative, it is unlikely that the government would be able to provide full funding.
- Multiple stakeholders taking part—the many sectors of healthcare need to get on the same page and decide what they will work together on to improve quality of care.
- Differences from the CAST model—the aviation industry is somewhat less complex than the healthcare industry in that there are hundreds clinical areas that all have their own set of hazards.
- Convincing hospitals that patient safety is something that needs a large investment—it is difficult to persuade hospitals presently that taking part in an initiative like this without guaranteeing an immediate return on investment. Patient safety needs to be seen as something to which attention should be paid regardless of immediate financial return, although it is becoming apparent that the two are linked.
Patients’ Bill of Rights found to be difficult for patients to understand
Found this story via KevinMD, and it caught my eye because I know how hard hospitals, and patient education managers in particular, work to make sure their own patient safety and education literature is written at an 8th grade level. Turns out the Patients’ Bill of Rights (this is the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) original version), of which many states have modified and made their own versions, is tough to read for many patients. This HealthDay article points out some examples of how some of the rights listed could be modified to be written in a manner that most patients would understand (at an 8th grade reading level).
The report, which was based off of a study published in the Journal of Internal General Medicine, shows that there is great variability among state versions of the Patient Bill of Rights, and that most did not take into account the average reading level in the U.S. Additionally, most were only written in English and didn’t cover the 12 themes originally listed in the AHA’s Bill of Rights. Part of the problem is that there is no Federal Patients’ Bill of Rights, making it difficult to standardize what should be included and how one should be written. The AHA published “The Patient Care Partnership” in 2006 to replace their Bill of Rights to address what should be part of the information exchange during a patient’s hospital stay.
Has your hospital made sure its Patients’ Bill of Rights is understandable by all patients?
New budget calls for MD and RN loans to be repaid
Part of President Obama’s latest budget proposal includes money to repay the loans of nurses, doctors, and dentists, especially those who vow to work in medical sectors that are lacking the necessary numbers of workers. The Wall Street Journal Health Blog is reporting that in addition to repaying loans, part of the $330 million would go to building up nursing schools and nursing programs. The nation is currently suffering from a nursing and primary care physician shortage.
Other health-related concerns addressed in the budget proposal are cancer and autism research, as well as better oversight of the Food and Drug Administration. Check out the full budget proposal here.
Do you think adding loan payback incentives will drive more professionals in this country to consider becoming a nurse, doctor, or dentist?
