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”.
A checklist of five things doctors should not do to improve the quality of care.
Electronic health records put your health data—medical history, medicines, allergies, test results, and more—all in one place. This saves you and your medical team time. It also reduces the chance of an error like getting a drug you’re allergic to.
20 percent of Medicare patients are back in the hospital within 30 days, a trend that endangers patients and raises health costs.
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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Seattle Times Health News
Experts divided over recommendation to screen children for cholesterol
Some clinicians say universal screening is an important tool to help identify children who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol and to pinpoint others who could benefit from treatment. Others express concerns that screening may do more harm than good.
People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
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