In responding to dysfunctional systems, America instinctively turns to “more regulation” (Exhibit A: today’s Wall Street). But regulation can, and often does, go too far, and – in patient safety – I believe that it now has. Note that this comes from someone who believes that healthcare was under-regulated until recently, not a popular viewpoint ...

Last week’s New York Times front-page piece on colored wristbands highlighted an issue I’ve been fretting about for years. We can achieve consensus on a $700B bailout in 3 days (well, perhaps not), but can’t agree on what color a DNR wristband should be? Wow. My interest in this subject began with a remarkable case I first described in Internal ...

Just returning from a work-acation, including a talk in Buenos Aires. Today I’ll briefly cover a few items: Medicare’s final “no pay” list; patient safety in Argentina; a great post on hospital finances; and one of the saddest things I’ve ever experienced.First, the final “no pay” list. I’m not sure if this was CMS’s intent, but their trial ...

In today’s Annals of Internal Medicine, my colleagues and I describe the saga of the four-hour measure of door-to-antibiotics time for pneumonia – the first truly dangerous measure in the era of public quality reporting. It is an important cautionary tale. As I’ve discussed previously, the biggest surprise of the last decade in the quality field ...

In his five years on the job, Dr. Ernie Ring taught me why the Chief Medical Officer role is crucial, and how to do it right. Since Ernie is retiring at week’s end, it seems like an opportune time to share what I’ve learned. A bit of background. UCSF Medical Center didn’t have a Chief Medical Officer until about 8 years ago; indeed, even today ...

As I mentioned in my last post, these should be the best of times for ''Infection Preventionists'' (formerly known as Infection Control Officers). After years of trying to get someone – anyone – to pay attention to their work, their day in the sun has finally arrived. But they are far from a joyful bunch. Why?In my talk to 4,000 members of the ...

The Joint Commission just released its 2009 National Patient Safety Goals, and – no surprise – they focus on infection prevention. While this seems natural today, it wasn’t always so. In fact, the conflation of infection control and patient safety is one of the most surprising twists of the patient safety revolution. The inclusion – make that ...

Of all the structural (how care is organized) “evidence-based markers of high quality care,” perhaps the most ironclad has been the involvement of critical care physicians in the care of ICU patients. That is, until now.In a sophisticated study in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine, Levy and colleagues mine a decade-old, 100-hospital, 123-ICU ...

This is one of the most commonly asked questions in IT World, and my answer has always been “CPOE first” – largely because that has always been David Bates’s (the world’s leading IT/safety researcher) answer. But I’ve changed my mind. Here’s why.Before I start, I promised that I’d let you know if I ever blogged on a topic in which I have a ...

Last week, Medicare proposed nine additional “do not pay” conditions, several months before implementing the first eight. I like the concept of not paying for preventable adverse events, but this new list is a case of too far, too fast.In my previous review of the new policy (here and in this article), I described four conditions that should be ...