To judge hospital safety, Leapfrog Group graded hospitals across the US on how well they do preventing medical errors. One-third of major teaching hospitals & 28% of non-teaching hospitals received an A grade, nationally.
Sixty-two Massachusetts hospitals (76%) got an A. 15 received a B or C. No Massachusetts hospital received a grade lower than a C. All Boston teaching hospitals received A’s.
My take: In our community we have 2 A hospitals, 1 B and 1 C. Grading system is an oversimplification, but will become a standard & hosptials will invariably change their efforts to make good marks. Studies have shown that this reporting can improve what is measured, but may cause problems in areas that are not measured. Continued vigilence.
Check out you hospital at http://hospitalsafetyscore.org/ ;
Via
Seth Bilazarian, MD
Patient engagement refers to having patients be involved in their own healthcare. The primary route of this has been through patient portals. With a portal, patients can make appointments and communicate with their doctors, gain valuable educational material, and see lab and imaging results. The EMR puts all this information in one place for the patient. However, it depends on how involved the patient is in his/her own care. The patient must create an account and select what information they want. While I think it is a great idea in concept, it is not reaching the majority of patients who choose not to participate.