Dr. Gary S. Kaplan, chairman and CEO of Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement/
Virginia Mason Medical Center has launched a blog that will focus on quality improvement processes aimed at improving patient safety and cutting costs. The Seattle hospital established a national reputation for quality improvement by adapting “lean” manufacturing techniques to medicine
Medicare’s largest effort to pay hospitals based on how they perform did not lead to fewer deaths, casting doubt on a central premise of the new health law’s effort to rework the financial incentives for hospitals with the aim of saving money while improving patient care.
Incomplete and unclear prescriptions, which numbered in the hundreds during the months before the systems were installed, dropped to single digits at both hospitals, study finds.
The purpose of the new center is to evaluate the effectiveness of hospital’s improvement initiatives more rigorously and publish the results in medical journals and other publications.
Swedish Medical Center’s First Hill Hospital and Virginia Mason Medical Center both make the “Top Hospital” list put out each year by The Leapfrog Group, a health-quality improvement group.
Electronic health records reveal how well doctors are providing care. Are their patients receiving recommended preventive services? Have they been given unnecessary care? It’s in the record.
Medicare’s new Hospital Compare website allows you to compare hospitals side-by-side on a variety of patient safety and patient satisfaction measures. But are the comparisons fair?
Planning to have surgery? Well, you might want to find out just how frequently hospitals in your area are perform the operation before deciding where to go.
How long will you have to wait at Overlake’s emergency room? There’s an app for that!
“Never Events” continue to be common events in U.S. operating rooms. Hospital group estimates 40 “wrong-site” surgeries performed each week in U.S. hospitals and clinics.
Being in a hospital at night or over a weekend can be hazardous to your health, and even has a name: “the weekend effect.” To improve the quality of night time and weekend care, hospitals from Syracuse to Seattle are hiring a new breed of subspecialist called a “nocturnist”.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
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Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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