Hospital Physicians and other healthcare providers will soon hear about "Always Events" - a new initiative aimed at significantly elevating the standard for the patient care in US healthcare facilities. This new standard is described in a recent white paper by the Picker Institute, and is likely to also involve outsourced physicians. The term … [Read more...]
Always Events: A New Initiative for Patient Care
Engaging Physicians in a Shared Quality Agenda
Hospital Physician engagement in quality and safety - a framework worth revisiting. Six primary elements essential for the engagement of physicians in quality and safety, are noted in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's white paper titled Engaging Physicians in a Shared Quality Agenda. In this previously published paper, the following are … [Read more...]
Florida’s “Pill Mill Bill” Cracks Down on Abuse
Florida’s physician services sector is getting serious about an issue that has been making newspaper headlines across the country – pill mill busts. The state’s “pill mill bill,” which passed in July, has been successful in stopping physicians from writing excessive prescriptions for potent (and potentially deadly) pain medications. According … [Read more...]
Hospital-Based Palliative Care Rises
Hospital Physicians News: The overall hospital-based palliative care grade in the US rose from a "C" in 2008 to a "B", according to American Medical News. This new performance mark was released in October by researchers at the Center to Advance Palliative Care, a New York nonprofit that helps hospitals set up palliative care … [Read more...]
Physician Practices Don’t Qualify as Medical Homes
Hospital Physician Relationships 46% of physician practices do not qualify as medical homes, according to a news release from the University of Michigan Health System. "Our study findings are particularly worrisome because the medical home model of care is seen as providing higher quality, more cost-efficient care," lead author John … [Read more...]