patient safety

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Three Areas Where Health Information Technology Needs to Get its House in Order

Health reform is taking off, thanks to pressure from insurers, the promise with which innovative technologies tease us for low-cost treatments, and regulatory mandates dating back to the HITECH act of 2009. Recent hopeful signs for wider adoption of health technologies include FDA forebearance from regulating consumer health apps, calls for more support for telemedicine, and new health announcements from tech giants such as Apple and Google. While technologists push forward in all these areas, we need to keep in mind that several big unsolved problems remain. Let's not get lost in the details--these major issues have to be tackled head on. Read More »

Too Soon to Tell If EHRs Provide Good ROI

Marla Durben Hirsch | Fierce Healthcare | July 20, 2016

There’s been a lot of hoopla about the role of electronic health records in patient safety, Meaningful Use, data sharing and security. But the elephant in the room is always "do EHRs provide a good return on investment? Will EHR users make more money?" It seems, based on recent research, that the answer might be yes. First, there’s the study that EHRs are adept at increasing a provider’s charge capture. By using their EHR’s automation and enhanced coding capability, pediatric primary care physicians saw an $11.49 increase on average, per-patient collections and an $11.09 increase on average, per-patient charges, as well as an improvement in collection ratios...

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TransCelerate Identifies Pharmacovigilance as an Operational Challenge in Need of Transformation

Press Release | TransCelerate BioPharma Inc. | March 29, 2017

TransCelerate BioPharma Inc. today announced that it has added Pharmacovigilance to its portfolio, establishing two new global initiatives: 1.) Interpretation of Pharmacovigilance Regulations and 2.) Value of Safety Information Data Sources. Both initiatives aim to create solutions that will reduce resource inefficiencies, enhance information exchange with global health authorities and improve patient safety to drive more value for patients...

Transparency International Reports on Massive Corruption in the Pharmaceutical Sector - Media Hardly Notices

Roy M. Poses | Health Care Renewal | June 8, 2016

In 2006, TI published a report on health care corruption, which asserted that corruption is widespread throughout the world, serious, and causes severe harm to patients and society. "Corruption might mean the difference between life and death for those in need of urgent care. It is invariably the poor in society who are affected most by corruption because they often cannot afford bribes or private health care. But corruption in the richest parts of the world also has its costs"...

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U of Michigan & VA Hospitals Strengthening Ties To Provide More Clinical Research

Amy Bell | Ann Arbor Journal | November 7, 2012

The University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Health System are strengthening ties in an effort to provide more research to help those who have served. The organizations recently announced 150 researchers from the Ann Arbor VA Center for Clinical Management Research will move from... Read More »

U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and UL Sign CRADA for Medical Devices Cybersecurity Standards

Press Release | Underwriters Laboratories | June 17, 2016

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a global safety science organization, today announced a signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreement Program (CRADA) for medical devices cybersecurity standards and certification approaches. As part of the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986, the CRADA mechanism was established to encourage the creation of teams to solve technological and industrial problems for the greater benefit of the country...

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UnitedHealth Recalls Digital Health Record Software

Jordan Robertson | Bloomberg | September 10, 2013

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) has recalled software used in hospital emergency departments in more than 20 states because of an error that caused doctor’s notes about patient prescriptions to drop out of their files. Read More »

Unreported Robot Surgery Injuries Open Questions For FDA

Robert Langreth | Bloomberg Personal Finance | December 30, 2013

When Sheena Wilson, 45, underwent robotic surgery for a hysterectomy in May, she didn’t know the Intuitive Surgical Inc. system used by her doctor was previously tied to a variety of injuries for the same procedure. Read More »

Use of IHealth Electronic Records System Suspended at Nanaimo Hospital

Louise Dickson and Lindsay Kines | Times Colonist | February 21, 2017

Island Health has pressed the pause button on its new IHealth at Nanaimo hospital suspended$174-million electronic health-record system at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to give exhausted health-care providers a break. On Monday, Dr. Brendan Carr, Island Health president and chief executive officer, confirmed Island Health is suspending the computerized ordering of medications, lab tests and diagnostic images on the IHealth paperless system until improvements are made...

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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 Seeks Information on EHR Replacement for VistA

Greg Slabodkin | Health Data Management | August 12, 2016

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a request for information seeking industry feedback on how the VA might transition from its legacy electronic health record system to a commercial EHR. While it continues to modernize the decades-old Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) system, the VA is having second thoughts about whether the legacy EHR is able to meet its needs going forward...

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VA St. Louis Health Care System To Install LiveData PeriOp Manager, With DSS Integration To VistA Electronic Health Record System

Press Release | Document Storage Systems (DSS), LiveData | December 16, 2013

LiveData, Inc. today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System in St. Louis has purchased LiveData PeriOp Manager, the company’s operational intelligence solution for the perioperative setting. LiveData and partner Document Storage Systems, Inc. Read More »

VA Wait Times As Good or Better Than Private Sector: Report

Richard Sisk | Military.com | September 20, 2017

VA health care is as good or in some cases better than that offered by the private sector on key measures including wait times, according to a study commissioned by the American Legion. The report, issued Tuesday and titled "A System Worth Saving," concludes that the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system "continues to perform as well as, and often better than, the rest of the U.S. health-care system on key quality measures," including patient safety, satisfaction and care coordination...

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Value Of Developing, Optimizing EHR Systems For Clinicians

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | July 22, 2013

As defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), meaningful use is the implementation and adoption of EHR systems to increase the delivery of high-quality care while ensuring patient safety. However, this hasn’t been the experience of many physicians... Read More »

VAPAHCS Named Most Wired Hospital For The Sixth Time

Staff Writer | Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | July 20, 2013

The Hospitals and Health Networks, a publication of the American Hospital Association, has named VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) as one of the Nation's Most Wired Hospitals. Read More »