Electronic health records: Should patients have open access?
What’s your opinion when it comes to giving patients full access to their electronic health records? Is it a good idea or a disaster in the making? It seems the majority (82%) of U.S. doctors think...
View ArticleHospitals join initiative to serve healthier food
Since I’ve never been hospitalized, I don’t have any experience with hospital food — but I’ve heard it’s awful. And when my daughter was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease last year and spent a week in a...
View ArticleExpert tip: Listen to nurses when implementing an EHR
One healthcare organization has advice for others that are currently shopping around for an EHR system: Make sure you pay close attention to the opinions of the people who will spend the most time...
View ArticleNew site gives patients access to hospital inspection results
Public perception is everything when it comes to hospitals. Patients don’t want to go to a hospital with known quality issues. So it’s important you know exactly what info is floating around out there...
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Truven announces its 100 top hospitals
Truven Health Analytics has released its 20th 100 Top Hospitals study, which uses public data sources to create an independent and objective assessment of hospitals with the best facility-wide...
View ArticleTexting may help hospitals treat and diagnose strokes
Text messaging has become an essential method of communication among friends and family members. But it can also be effective in saving lives in hospitals, as demonstrated by research involving stroke...
View ArticleHospital suffers two data breaches due to stolen computing devices
While there’s some debate over the best ways to secure sensitive data, IT security experts can at least agree on one key element of a healthcare data security plan: It’s important to learn from prior...
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Reducing residents’ work hours doesn’t improve patient care
It would seem to make sense that if your resident physicians worked fewer hours, they’d get more sleep, learn more, do a better job, be happier and not be a risk to your patients. However, recent...
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Are your physicians immune to the sound of medical device alarms?
Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines, pulse oximetry devices, blood pressure monitors, infusion pumps, ventilators — and the list goes on — all have alarms in them to warn healthcare professionals when...
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Patient safety strategies hospitals should implement now
Every time you turn around there’s another study on how you can improve patient care and safety at your hospital. But how do you know which strategies really work, which ones will be good for your...
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Remote video auditing in OR improves efficiency and patient safety
Think how much you could strengthen patient safety at your hospital if remote video auditing (RVA) was used in all the surgical suites. Well, one health system is already doing it. The North Shore-LIJ...
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Studies highlight 2 sources of dangerous health IT mistakes
Electronic records and other health IT systems can improve care for patients. But if they aren’t used properly, those systems can lead to dangerous mistakes that threaten patient safety. Recent...
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Alarming new study: 15% of endoscopes weren’t completely clean
Are the endoscopes in your hospital clean? Chances are at least one in four isn’t and contains some kind of “bio-dirt” — cells and material from previous patients. At least that’s what a new study...
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Best Children’s Hospitals list released by U.S. News & World Report
It’s that time again. Time for the release of U.S. News & World Report‘s annual Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. The rankings is a guide to where children who have life-threatening, rare or...
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Make ED information systems safer: 4 common errors to avoid
For the most part, healthcare professionals see emergency department information systems (EDIS) as a positive. They provide legible documentation, retrieve past information and decrease practice...
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Johns Hopkins is again No. 1 on U.S. News’ Best Hospitals List
Recently, we highlighted which children’s hospitals are the best, according to U.S. News & World Report. Now find out which hospitals were awarded the honors of being included in US News‘...
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Major pharmacy cuts off access to opioids for high-risk prescribers
Abuse of opioid prescription painkillers is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in the US. And the problem is only getting worse. In 1999, the number of deaths due to overdose in the U.S. was 4,000....
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Study: 6% of doctors violate patient privacy on Twitter
Hospitals have likely been warned to make sure their employees’ social media mistakes don’t end up violating patients’ privacy. Should they be worried about doctors, too? Social networks can benefit...
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Needle sticks, sharps injuries: An enormous drain on the healthcare system
OSHA estimates 5.6 million workers in the U.S. healthcare industry are at risk of potential exposure to bloodborne pathogens from needle sticks and sharps injuries at their jobs. And the direct costs...
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Report: Medication errors caused by EHR systems’ default values
Like any tool used in health care, electronic health record (EHR) systems must be used properly or they can create new risks for patient safety. A recent study highlights one potentially dangerous...
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