13 new studies on quality & patient safety in Southern Medical Journal

Brandon Howard - Friday, June 19th, 2015

The June special issue of Southern Medical Journal (Volume: 18) presents 13 studies and commentaries on healthcare quality and patient safety.

Below are a few of the findings:

Commentary on Quality and Patient Safety by Ajoy Kumar, MD.
Commentary on the Special Quality and Safety in Health Care Issue by Mark S. Williams, MD, MBA, JD
Improving Healthcare Quality in the United States: A New Approach, Kathryn A. Nix, BS, John S. O'Shea, MD, MPA. The authors argue "a new model for healthcare financing that includes patient awareness of the cost of care will encourage better quality and reduced spending by engaging patients in the pursuit of value, aligning incentives for insurers to reduce costs with patients' desire to receive excellent care, and holding providers accountable for the quality and cost of the care they provide."

Commentary on "Back to Anatomy: Improving Landmarking Accuracy of Clinical Procedures Using a Novel Approach to Procedural Teaching", by Ken A. Newman, MD. Dr. Newman highlights the difficulty in the graduate medical education environment of relating human anatomy that is specifically pertinent to the procedures of bone marrow biopsy and aspiration, according to the abstract.
Feedback on Bounce Backs: Real-Time Notification of Readmissions and the Impact on Readmission Rates and Physician Perceptions, E. Allen Liles, MD, Carlton R. Moore, MD, MS, Jacob Stein, MPH. Researchers found "a modest reduction in readmission rates without significant changes in length of stay." They also found that physicians continued to believe that a readmission event was largely not preventable. Real-time notification did increase physician involvement in prevention, particularly with high-use patients, according to the abstract.
Disparity in Patients' Self-Reported and Charted Medication Allergy Information
Researchers found the percentage of agreement between interviews and charting for reaction type was 50 percent, and even with the use of an EMR, feel better methods are necessary to properly record allergies to ensure patient safety.