Supporting Safer Healthcare

The Quaid Foundation was established in 2007 by Dennis and Kimberly Quaid shortly after their 12 day old twins received an accidental overdose of Heparin.  I placed the link to the Foundation web site under the Patient Safety section of this site's blogroll at that time.   Several times since 2007 I have considered deleting the link because there were [...]

A word to hospital leaders… Do you think that medical staff credentialing and privileging is just low-level paper-work? Does your organization provide ongoing education and support, not just for the employees who work in the Medical Staff Services Department, but also for the physicians who sit on your Credentials and Medical Executive Committees, as well [...]

National Patient Safety Week in the US is March 7-13, 2010.  This year, to promote patient safety The Joint Commission will give away 20 copies of “YOU: The Smart Patient,” and a new book “The Smart Parent’s Guide to Getting Your Kids Through Checkups, Illnesses, and Accidents.”  Both books are written for the general public in [...]

It took years before the truth was uncovered; the charming doctor was a cold-blooded killer.    Add a bit of information here, an element or two of data there, and slowly the complete picture appears – if someone has access to all the pieces and understands how they connect.  A secure central repository for collection [...]

The UK's National Patient Safety Agency has ordered all hospitals in England and Wales to begin using the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist by February 1, 2010.   The check-list is a single page and is divided into three columns; Before Induction of Anesthesia, After Skin Incision, and Before Patient Leaves Operating Room.  If you're [...]

"These doctors think the hospital should cater to their every whim!"  "All the hospital cares about is making money, not about quality patient care!" If you've worked in healthcare long, you've probably heard those words from frustrated leadership on both sides of the table. Animosity can build between hospital administrators and physician leaders if communication is [...]

The debate about improving US healthcare availability continues, but in the United Kingdom, where public healthcare is the standard, a firestorm over patient safety has erupted.  Headlines like these have been featured over the past several days in the British press: The worst NHS wards … where safety is a lottery Chief Executive of 'appalling care' [...]

Keeping Dad company in the hospital for five weeks had left me befuddled. How can a facility featuring state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment use less-sophisticated information technology than my local sushi bar? How can the ICU stress the importance of sterility when its trash is picked up once daily, and only after flowing onto the floor of [...]

Dr. Val Jones from GetBetterHealth.com was recently interviewed by ABC News regarding the best ways to avoid becoming a victim of hospital errors. She also relates her own patient experience with misidentification.   (Note: If you do not have access to YouTube the video clip below will not display.)

Hospital and medical staff leaders often do not report problem physicians to the National Practitioner Data Bank, a federal database established as part of the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986.  HCQIA requires hospitals to report to the National Practitioners Data Bank (NPDB) any professional review action that adversely affects a physician’s clinical privileges for a [...]