Med Mal News

Because of the continuing incidence of patient deaths and injuries due to entrapment in malfunctioning hospital beds, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published a draft guidance for hospital bed manufacturers designed to reduce this problem. The FDA has received 575 reports of patient entrapment in the past 19 years, including 358 deaths, 111 injuries and 106 near misses. The entrapment most often occurred among the elderly and others who were frail, confused, disabled and otherwise especially vulnerable. Incidents have been reported at hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. The paper, “Draft Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff; Hospital Bed system Dimensional Guidance to Reduce Entrapment,” is available on the FDA's Web site at www.fda.gov/cdrh/beds. The FDA is seeking industry, health professional and patient advocate comments on the draft before publishing a final document.

HHS Chief Calls for Electronic Health Records System to Enhance Patient Safety

In late July, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson released the first outline of a 10-year plan to transform the delivery of health care by building a new health information infrastructure, including electronic health records and a new network to link health records nationwide. At the same time, he announced a number of new action steps to help advance health information technology immediately.

The aim is to have electronic health care records systems (EHRs) implemented that would enable physicians and other health professionals to electronically tap into a wealth of treatment information as they care for patients, decreasing medical errors due to lack of information. The report was released in Washington, DC, at a Secretarial Summit on Health Information Technology bringing together the nation's technology and health leaders.

The health sector has been slow to invest in EHRs, with only 13% of hospitals reporting they had the systems in 2002, and 14% to 28% of physicians' practices. Some incentive options the government plans to review include: 1) awarding regional grants and contracts to stimulate EHRs and community information exchange systems; 2) improving availability of low-rate loans for EHR adoption; 3) updating federal rules on physician self-referral that may unintentionally restrict investment and networks; 4) using Medicare reimbursement to reward use of EHRs; and 5) using demonstration projects to test new concepts in Medicare of “paying for performance” – linking payments to quality of care rather than volume of services only.

JCAHO to Study Cultural and Language Issues

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is establishing of a panel of national experts to assist in a study of hospital efforts to address cultural and linguistic issues that impact the quality and safety of patient care.

The 2.5-year project, funded by The California Endowment, is the first comprehensive study to explore what hospitals are doing to address the cultural and linguistic needs of patients. Approximately 60 hospitals will be visited in 2005 as part of the study.

Distinguished Hospital Awards and Findings

HealthGrades, the health care quality ratings company headquartered in Lakewood, CO, has awarded 88 hospitals in 23 states with its Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety. The awards, the first of their kind, were given to hospitals with the best patient safety records and are meant to encourage consumers to seek out and patronize superior health care institutions. A list of winners can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.

Hospital Bed Safety Addressed by FDA

Because of the continuing incidence of patient deaths and injuries due to entrapment in malfunctioning hospital beds, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published a draft guidance for hospital bed manufacturers designed to reduce this problem. The FDA has received 575 reports of patient entrapment in the past 19 years, including 358 deaths, 111 injuries and 106 near misses. The entrapment most often occurred among the elderly and others who were frail, confused, disabled and otherwise especially vulnerable. Incidents have been reported at hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. The paper, “Draft Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff; Hospital Bed system Dimensional Guidance to Reduce Entrapment,” is available on the FDA's Web site at www.fda.gov/cdrh/beds. The FDA is seeking industry, health professional and patient advocate comments on the draft before publishing a final document.

HHS Chief Calls for Electronic Health Records System to Enhance Patient Safety

In late July, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson released the first outline of a 10-year plan to transform the delivery of health care by building a new health information infrastructure, including electronic health records and a new network to link health records nationwide. At the same time, he announced a number of new action steps to help advance health information technology immediately.

The aim is to have electronic health care records systems (EHRs) implemented that would enable physicians and other health professionals to electronically tap into a wealth of treatment information as they care for patients, decreasing medical errors due to lack of information. The report was released in Washington, DC, at a Secretarial Summit on Health Information Technology bringing together the nation's technology and health leaders.

The health sector has been slow to invest in EHRs, with only 13% of hospitals reporting they had the systems in 2002, and 14% to 28% of physicians' practices. Some incentive options the government plans to review include: 1) awarding regional grants and contracts to stimulate EHRs and community information exchange systems; 2) improving availability of low-rate loans for EHR adoption; 3) updating federal rules on physician self-referral that may unintentionally restrict investment and networks; 4) using Medicare reimbursement to reward use of EHRs; and 5) using demonstration projects to test new concepts in Medicare of “paying for performance” – linking payments to quality of care rather than volume of services only.

JCAHO to Study Cultural and Language Issues

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is establishing of a panel of national experts to assist in a study of hospital efforts to address cultural and linguistic issues that impact the quality and safety of patient care.

The 2.5-year project, funded by The California Endowment, is the first comprehensive study to explore what hospitals are doing to address the cultural and linguistic needs of patients. Approximately 60 hospitals will be visited in 2005 as part of the study.