NPSA - Patient Safety analysis

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has published its first analysis of patient safety data in England and Wales and the first issue of the new Patient Safety Bulletin – a review of learning from reported incidents.

The new report, Building a memory: preventing harm, reducing risks and improving patient safety, offers a unique overview of what is going wrong and describes the role of the Patient Safety Observatory in supporting improvements in patient safety at a national level.

The Patient Safety Bulletin is a new way of providing feedback to the NHS to help organisations identify and address the patient safety problems or risks that they may face locally.

Patient Safety Observatory

BMJ - Best practices for safe handling of products containing concentrated potassium

Michelle Tubman, Sumit R Majumdar, Daniel Lee, Carol Friesen and Terry P Klassen
BMJ 2005;331;274-277
[Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

Arch Intern Med - Adherence to Heart Failure Quality-of-Care Indicators in US Hospitals

Analysis of the ADHERE Registry
Gregg C. Fonarow, Clyde W. Yancy, J. Thomas Heywood, and for the ADHERE Scientific Advisory Committee, Study Group, and Investigators
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:1469-1477.
ABSTRACT FULL TEXT

Editorial

Quality: The Need for Intelligent Efforts
Lawrence Baruch; Robert A. Phillips
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:1455-1456.
EXTRACT FULL TEXT PDF

CMS - Quality Improvement Roadmap

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/quality/quality%20roadmap.pdf

the CMS quality roadmap features five main strategies to achieve the goal of high-quality care:

1. Work through partnerships – within CMS, with Federal and State agencies, and especially with non-governmental partners – to achieve specific quality goals.
2. Develop and provide quality measures and information, as a basis for supporting more effective quality improvement efforts.
3. Pay in a way that reinforces our commitment to quality, and that helps providers and patients take steps to improve health and avoid unnecessary costs.
4. Assist practitioners and providers in making care more effective, particularly including the use of effective electronic health systems.
5. Bring effective new treatments to patients more rapidly and help develop better evidence so that doctors and patients can use medical technologies more effectively.

Ministero della Salute - Attività di ricovero opedaliero 2003

Il Rapporto, da quest’anno, si è arricchito di nuove tabelle che riguardano la frequenza dei ricoveri ripetuti, la modalità di dimissione, la presenza degli stranieri e le cause di traumatismo.
Rapporto annuale 2003 sull'attività di ricovero opedaliero

I principali dati del flusso SDO, oltre che nel formato cartaceo predefinito di questa pubblicazione, sono disponibili anche su supporto informatico e sono interrogabili in modo personalizzato e flessibile.
Ricerca di informazioni sui ricoveri ospedalieri

ASSR - Monitor n.13 Focus on: Il programma "Mattoni del SSN"

E’ stato pubblicato il n. 13 di Monitor, la rivista bimestrale dell’Agenzia per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali.

Il Focus di Monitor 13 è dedicato a: Il programma "Mattoni del SSN".

AHRQ - National Project Launched To Reduce Surgical Complications by 25 Percent

http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2005/scippr.htm

In an effort to improve surgical care in hospitals nationwide, a partnership of leading public and private health care organizations has launched a project to reduce surgical complications by 25 percent by the year 2010.

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP): www.medqic.org/scip

CMWF - Primary Care and Health System Performance

Adults' Experiences in Five Countries
Cathy Schoen, Robin Osborn, Phuong Trang Huynh, Michelle Doty, Karen Davis, Kinga Zapert, and Jordon Peugh.

This survey, from The Commonwealth Fund, of patients in five industrialized nations finds shortfalls in delivering safe, effective, timely, or patient-centered primary care to be an international problem.

• Read more >>

• View a webcast of the presentation of these survey findings from the Commonwealth Fund's 2004 International Health Policy Symposium.

• read the Health Affairs Web Exclusive

JAMA - Efficiency in the Health Care Industries

A View From the Outside
Andrew S. Grove
JAMA. 2005;294:490-492.
EXTRACT FULL TEXT PDF

Health Affairs - Health Spending Worldwide

Health Spending In The United States And The Rest Of The Industrialized World
Gerard F. Anderson, Peter S. Hussey, Bianca K. Frogner, and Hugh R. Waters
Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 4, 903-914
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Editorial:

U.S. Health Spending Habits Grab International Attention
John K. Iglehart
Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 4, 902
[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

JAMA - Clinical Practice Guidelines and Quality of Care for Older Patients With Multiple Comorbid Diseases

Implications for Pay for Performance
Cynthia M. Boyd; Jonathan Darer; Chad Boult; Linda P. Fried; Lisa Boult; Albert W. Wu
JAMA. 2005;294:716-724.
ABSTRACT FULL TEXT PDF

JAMA - Adding Value to Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines

Editorial
Patrick J. O’Connor
JAMA. 2005;294:741-743.
EXTRACT FULL TEXT PDF

NEJM - Bar Coding for Patient Safety

A. A. Wright and I. T. Katz
N Engl J Med 2005 353: 329-331
Extract Full Text PDF

IHI - Reducing Hospital Mortality Rates

Reducing Hospital Mortality Rates (Part 2)
Whittington J, Simmonds T, Jacobsen D

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2005

This white paper presents an update on IHI's work to reduce hospital mortality rates first introduced in the "Move Your Dot" white paper.

OECD - Health Data 2005

OECD Health Data offers the most comprehensive
source of comparable statistics on health and health
systems across OECD countries.

The 2005 edition of the database, provides
evidence of striking variations across the 30 OECD
member countries in many aspects of their health
systems.

OECD Health Data 2005

OECD - Health Update

This newsletter provides up-to-date information on the OECD’s work on health.

Inaugural issue of the OECD Health Update

3rd Australasian Conference on Safety & Quality in Health Care

Evolution or Revolution?
11-13 July 2005 Adelaide, Australia

PDF versions of the presentations are now available.

Monday 11 July
Tuesday 12 July
Wednesday 13 July

VA - Cyber Seminars

Quasi-Experimental Design For Studying Quality Improvement Interventions: Strengths and Pitfalls
Rodney Hayward
Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D)

Cyber Seminars homepage

Tufts OpenCourseWare

http://ocw.tufts.edu/
Tufts OpenCourseWare is part of a new educational movement initiated by MIT where course content is accessible for free to everyone online.

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

COURSE LIST

Alliance for Health Reform - Pay-for-Performance briefing

Taking Health Care Quality Improvement to the Next Level
7/15/2005 - Washington, D.C.

Alliance's briefing page

Click here to view an archived webcast of this event, provided by the kaisernetwork.org.

Int J Qual Health Care - Quality-based payment

six case examples
Peggy McNamara

International Journal for Quality in Health Care 2005 17(4):357-362
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

AHRQ - Making the Health Care System Safer

Third Annual Patient Safety Research Conference
July 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.

complete transcripts of the conference sessions:
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/ptsconf3/

Arch Intern Med - Quality of US Outpatient Care

Temporal Changes and Racial/Ethnic Disparities
Jun Ma; Randall S. Stafford
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:1354-1361.
ABSTRACT FULL TEXT PDF

Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf - Ambulatory Care Visits for Treating Adverse Drug Effects in the United States, 1995-2001

Zhan, Chunliu; Arispe, Irma; Kelley, Edward; Ding, Tina; Burt, Catharine W.; Shinogle, Judith; Stryer, Daniel

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Volume 31, Number 7, July 2005, pp. 372-378(7)

Abstract

Medical Care - The Impact of Under Coding of Cardiac Severity and Comorbid Diseases on the Accuracy of Hospital Report Cards.

Austin, Peter C.; Tu, Jack V.; Alter, David A; Naylor, C David
Medical Care. 43(8):801-809, August 2005.
Abstract
HTML
PDF

BMC - Volume-based referral for cardiovascular procedures in the United States

a cross-sectional regression analysis
Andrew J Epstein, Saif S Rathore, Harlan M Krumholz, Kevin GM Volpp
BMC Health Services Research 2005, 5:42
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

IHI - Over 2,400 US Hospitals Have Joined the 100,000 Lives Campaign

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement 100,000 Lives Campaign has surpassed the goal of enlisting up to 2,000 U.S. hospitals in a commitment to implement changes in care that have been proven to prevent avoidable deaths.

Download "How-to Guides" for:

Rapid Response Teams,
Preventing Adverse Drug Events,
AMI Care,
Preventing Surgical Site Infections,
Preventing Central Line Infections, and
Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.

Health Affairs - FDA Under Scrutiny

PROLOGUE: How To Get The Data? Scrutiny Of Postmarketing Surveillance At The FDA
Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 4, 927
[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Postmarketing Surveillance Of Medical Devices Using Medicare Claims
David J. Malenka, Aaron V. Kaplan, Sandra M. Sharp, and John E. Wennberg
Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 4, 928-937
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Opening Pandora’s Pillbox: Using Modern Information Tools To Improve Drug Safety
Scott Gottlieb
Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 4, 938-948
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Soc Sci Med - A comparative analysis of drug safety withdrawals in the UK and the US (1971-1992)

Implications for current regulatory thinking and policy
Authors: Abraham, J; Davis, C
Soc Sci Med. 2005 Sep;61(5):881-92
Abstract Full Text + Links PDF

The Healthcare Commission - State of Healthcare report 2005

The Healthcare Commission has published its second report on the state of healthcare in England and Wales, focusing for the first time on the experience of patients.

More information about the State of Healthcare 2005 report

Ann Intern Med - Patient Safety Concerns Arising from Test Results That Return after Hospital Discharge

Christopher L. Roy, Eric G. Poon, Andrew S. Karson, Zahra Ladak-Merchant, Robin E. Johnson, Saverio M. Maviglia, and Tejal K. Gandhi

Ann Intern Med. 2005 Jul 19;143(2):121-8.
Abstract Full Text PDF

Medical Care - Improving Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratios as a Cost-Effective Safety Intervention

Rothberg, Michael B.; Abraham, Ivo; Lindenauer, Peter K.; Rose, David N.
Medical Care. 43(8):785-791, August 2005.
Abstract HTML PDF

Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf - Managing unnecessary variability in patient demand to reduce nursing stress and improve patient safety

Litvak, Eugene; Buerhaus, Peter I.; Davidoff, Frank; Long, Michael C.; McManus, Michael L.; Berwick, Donald M.

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Volume 31, Number 6, June 2005, pp. 330-338(9)

Abstract

OECD - Tackling Nurse Shortages in OECD Countries

Steven Simoens, Mike Villeneuve and Jeremy Hurst
OECD Health Working Papers No.19

This paper analyses shortages of nurses in OECD countries. It defines and describes evidence on current nurse shortages, and analyses international variability in nurse employment.

The Healthcare Commission - 2005 NHS performance ratings

The Healthcare Commission publishes the annual star ratings of performance for NHS trusts in England.

This is the final year that the Commission will rate performance using the current star ratings system. Next year the inspectorate will rate trusts by reference to its new annual health check, which aims to give a more comprehensive picture of NHS performance.

2004/2005 Performance ratings

Press release 27 July 2005: Star ratings show NHS improving against tougher targets

ASSR - Identificazione, sperimentazione e validazione di alcuni indicatori di processo ed esito della qualità delle attività sanitarie

Roma, 26-27 maggio 2005
Agenzia per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali

Sono disponibili le relazioni del convegno di presentazione dei risultati del progetto di ricerca finalizzata

http://.../index_convegno_indicatori.htm