Carolyn Clancy

See the following -

Federal Health Officials Call For New Quality Measurement Framework

Anthony Brino | Government Health IT | June 6, 2013

Federal health officials are calling for a new framework in quality measurement, as the U.S. healthcare system prepares for what is hoped to be a new era of accountability. Read More »

Hundreds Of Health Care Professionals In Field Of Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis And ALS Health Care Gather In Las Vegas For Paralyzed Veterans Of America’s Annual Summit + EXPO

Staff Writer | HeraldOnline.com | August 25, 2014

Beginning tomorrow, Paralyzed Veterans of America will host its 4th annual Summit + EXPO, bringing together hundreds of researchers, clinicians and health care professionals to learn about the latest treatments and therapies in spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D), multiple sclerosis (MS) and ALS health care...

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Killer Care: How Medical Error Became America's Third Largest Cause of Death, And What Can Be Done About It

...The following year, researchers shook the profession with an article in Health Affairs entitled “‘Global Trigger Tool’ Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater than Previously Measured.” Dr. David Classen, who did the seminal research for global triggers, served as lead author of the study, which looked at three mid-size to large (ranging from 550 to 1,000 beds) teaching hospitals associated with medical schools in the West and Northwest that participated on the condition of anonymity...When different detection methods were applied, global triggers found over 90 percent of events, the government’s Patient Safety Indicators (based on discharge summaries) found 8.5 percent, and voluntary reporting disclosed only 2 percent (afraid of censure and malpractice, doctors and nurses seldom willingly self-accuse). Classen, et al. warned: “reliance on voluntary reporting and the Patient Safety Indicators could produce misleading conclusions about the current safety of care in the U.S. health-care system and misdirect efforts to improve patient safety.”...

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VA Releases Findings On Deaths, Injuries From Delayed Tests

Howard Altman | TBO: The Tampa Tribune | April 7, 2014

Three veterans died and nine others were injured as the result of delays in treatment for gastrointestinal cancers in the VA’s Sunshine Healthcare Network serving Florida, southern Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to a much-anticipated VA report released Monday. The report also laid out corrective measures being taken to prevent similar problems in the future

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VA Secretary McDonald Outlines Steps For VA Transformation at Institute of Medicine Annual Meeting

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs | October 20, 2014

As the Nation’s foremost advisory body in medicine and healthcare, you know that the Department of Veterans Affairs is in the midst of overcoming problems involving access to healthcare. We own them, and we’re fixing them. But I know you also know that VA has a legacy of excellence, innovation, cutting-edge research, and achievements in healthcare delivery that is as broad and historically significant as it is profound—and often unrecognized. There’s something else. Right now, VA has before it perhaps its greatest opportunity to enhance care for Veterans in its history. Read More »

VA Tackles Medical Device Vulnerabilities and Cyberthreats

VA recently signed partnerships with Massachusetts General Hospital and Shepherd University. This collaboration's research will address cybersecurity and compatibility measures needed in devices used for VA patient care. It will also refine existing and emerging cybersecurity standards and practices for network connectable medical devices, medical data systems and other related technology. Beyond VA, the agreements could have a broad impact in standardizing cybersecurity and safety requirements within the larger public health sector. VA is contributing to industry-wide awareness of both medical device vulnerabilities and threats, while applying further tests of the Underwriters Laboratories criteria and other emerging standards.

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VA Teams With Walgreens On Vaccinations, Electronic Data Sharing

Dan Verton | FedScoop | October 3, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Thursday it has entered into an agreement with Walgreens — the nation’s largest retail drugstore chain — to provide vaccinations to veterans nationwide and said it will leverage the company’s cloud-based health record system to integrate vaccination records in real-time with VA...

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