Med Mal News

From Aug. 26 to Dec. 2, the University of Iowa College of Law is offering a free course on the health care reform law known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The 14-week course will cover topics such as “Health information technology” (Oct. 7) and “Promotion of higher quality health care” (Oct. 14).

“I think we're the only ones doing this,” said law professor Sheldon Kurtz, who worked with colleague Herbert Hovenkamp to develop the course. “We believe we have an outreach mission that involves informing the public about policy issues. This is a very important piece of legislation, so we thought we would experiment with distance learning.” Those who cannot watch live may view the lectures and see the Power Point presentations online at a later time. For further information, go to: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ibl/HealthLawColloquium.shtml.

State Reports New York Hospitals Successful in Lowering Infection Rates

New York's hospitals are making progress in their effort to decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired infections. In its third annual report on the issue, the State's department of health said that surgical site infections from colon surgery dropped 11%, while surgical site infections from cardiac bypass surgery decreased by 14%. Further, the rate of central-line-associated bloodstream infections has fallen 18% since 2007, not only improving patient outcomes, but also creating cost savings estimated at between $1.7 million and $7 million. In a statement, Arthur A. Levin, a member of New York's Department of Health's Technical Advisory Workgroup on Hospital-Acquired Infections and director of the Center for Medical Consumers, a non-profit organization promoting public awareness about medical care safety and quality, said: “The continued progress in making hospital stays safer for all New Yorkers is encouraging. Public reporting, whether of hospital-acquired infections or cardiac surgery outcomes, shines a bright light on the comparative performance of hospitals throughout the state, and that light has been shown to encourage improvement.” The report includes data from 100% of the hospitals in New York, where infection rates at all hospitals are audited to ensure accuracy.

Medical Society Wants Universal Flu Vaccination Policy for Health Workers

In September, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a policy statement recommending that all health care providers be required to receive an annual influenza vaccine. The policy, titled “Recommendation for Mandatory Influenza Immunization of All Health Care Personnel,” will appear in the October 2010 print issue of the journal Pediatrics. The AAP says that, each year, flu epidemics “account for 610,660 life-years lost, 3.1 million days of hospitalization, and 31.4 million outpatient visits” and generate “a cost burden of approximately $87 billion per year in the United States.” It is calling for mandatory inoculations of health care workers nationwide in order to hamper the spread of influenza to patient populations.

NY's Public Health System Seeks Greater Control over Doctors

New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) has announced that it will begin taking back control of its medical staff from its affiliated medical colleges, which have held it for decades. On its Web site, HHC explained its motives, stating that it was “consolidating its affiliate agreements for physician services to better position itself for federal health reform, drive expeditious change across the entire system, and achieve even more efficiency and quality improvements.”

HHC is a multi-site health care delivery system serving 1.3 million people per year, including 450,000 uninsured patients. The system includes 11 acute care hospitals, as well as nursing facilities, diagnostic and treatment centers, community based clinics, and providers of in-home health services. For years, HHC has maintained contracts with medical schools, including those at Columbia and New York University, which allow the schools to hire and fire the doctors at its hospitals, as well as manage many of their day-to-day activities. Under that system, HHC benefited by having professional affiliations with such prestigious learning institutions. HHC now wants to regain greater control so that it can, among other things, consolidate delivery of specialized medical care at certain hospitals within the system. HHC will continue to work with and draw doctors from its affiliated universities, but it will seek to cede less control to those institutions as it renegotiates contracts with them.

Sweeping Changes Implemented in CT

A new law has gone into effect in Connecticut requiring hospitals and outpatient surgical clinics to publicly report all adverse medical events within seven days of occurrence, including incidences of medical errors and hospital-acquired infections. The bill, which was titled “An Act Concerning Adverse Events at Hospitals and Outpatient Surgical Facilities,” was signed into law June 30 by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. The new rules also contain protections for whistleblowers and a requirement that medical malpractice actions be submitted to mediation. At the first mediation meeting, mediators are required to do one of three things: 1) help the parties reach settlement; 2) secure agreement from the parties that they will try to reach settlement with additional mediation; or 3) end the mediation, freeing the action for trail on the issues.

Law School Offers Free Online Course on Health Reform Law

From Aug. 26 to Dec. 2, the University of Iowa College of Law is offering a free course on the health care reform law known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The 14-week course will cover topics such as “Health information technology” (Oct. 7) and “Promotion of higher quality health care” (Oct. 14).

“I think we're the only ones doing this,” said law professor Sheldon Kurtz, who worked with colleague Herbert Hovenkamp to develop the course. “We believe we have an outreach mission that involves informing the public about policy issues. This is a very important piece of legislation, so we thought we would experiment with distance learning.” Those who cannot watch live may view the lectures and see the Power Point presentations online at a later time. For further information, go to: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ibl/HealthLawColloquium.shtml.

State Reports New York Hospitals Successful in Lowering Infection Rates

New York's hospitals are making progress in their effort to decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired infections. In its third annual report on the issue, the State's department of health said that surgical site infections from colon surgery dropped 11%, while surgical site infections from cardiac bypass surgery decreased by 14%. Further, the rate of central-line-associated bloodstream infections has fallen 18% since 2007, not only improving patient outcomes, but also creating cost savings estimated at between $1.7 million and $7 million. In a statement, Arthur A. Levin, a member of New York's Department of Health's Technical Advisory Workgroup on Hospital-Acquired Infections and director of the Center for Medical Consumers, a non-profit organization promoting public awareness about medical care safety and quality, said: “The continued progress in making hospital stays safer for all New Yorkers is encouraging. Public reporting, whether of hospital-acquired infections or cardiac surgery outcomes, shines a bright light on the comparative performance of hospitals throughout the state, and that light has been shown to encourage improvement.” The report includes data from 100% of the hospitals in New York, where infection rates at all hospitals are audited to ensure accuracy.

Medical Society Wants Universal Flu Vaccination Policy for Health Workers

In September, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a policy statement recommending that all health care providers be required to receive an annual influenza vaccine. The policy, titled “Recommendation for Mandatory Influenza Immunization of All Health Care Personnel,” will appear in the October 2010 print issue of the journal Pediatrics. The AAP says that, each year, flu epidemics “account for 610,660 life-years lost, 3.1 million days of hospitalization, and 31.4 million outpatient visits” and generate “a cost burden of approximately $87 billion per year in the United States.” It is calling for mandatory inoculations of health care workers nationwide in order to hamper the spread of influenza to patient populations.

NY's Public Health System Seeks Greater Control over Doctors

New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) has announced that it will begin taking back control of its medical staff from its affiliated medical colleges, which have held it for decades. On its Web site, HHC explained its motives, stating that it was “consolidating its affiliate agreements for physician services to better position itself for federal health reform, drive expeditious change across the entire system, and achieve even more efficiency and quality improvements.”

HHC is a multi-site health care delivery system serving 1.3 million people per year, including 450,000 uninsured patients. The system includes 11 acute care hospitals, as well as nursing facilities, diagnostic and treatment centers, community based clinics, and providers of in-home health services. For years, HHC has maintained contracts with medical schools, including those at Columbia and New York University, which allow the schools to hire and fire the doctors at its hospitals, as well as manage many of their day-to-day activities. Under that system, HHC benefited by having professional affiliations with such prestigious learning institutions. HHC now wants to regain greater control so that it can, among other things, consolidate delivery of specialized medical care at certain hospitals within the system. HHC will continue to work with and draw doctors from its affiliated universities, but it will seek to cede less control to those institutions as it renegotiates contracts with them.