Data from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston suggest Nevada's bill to require transparency in patient safety may reduce errors, according to a Las Vegas Sun report.
Ken Sands, chairman of BIDMC's health care quality department, says the medical center's transparency in reporting errors helped improve patient safety. Among other reductions, BIDMC reduced ventilator-associated pneumonia cases from 10-24 per month in early 2006 to zero by mid-2006, total days on ventilators from 350-475 per month in early 2006 to approximately 300 by mid-2007 and length of average intensive care stay from 3.5 days in 2005 to approximately one day by 2009.
Nevada's bill would require hospitals to report and allow verification of sentinel events, notify patients of infection rates, post infection rates in public areas and publish readmission rates. The Nevada Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold hearings on the bill today.
Read the Las Vegas Sun report on patient safety transparency.
Read more coverage on patient safety transparency:
- Nevada Lawmakers Hear Testimony on Public Hospital Reporting Legislation
- Institute of Healthcare Improvement Fellow: Transparency and Openness Vital to Patient Safety, Trust
- Some Hospitals Hesitant to Share Medical Errors Despite Push for Greater Transparency
Ken Sands, chairman of BIDMC's health care quality department, says the medical center's transparency in reporting errors helped improve patient safety. Among other reductions, BIDMC reduced ventilator-associated pneumonia cases from 10-24 per month in early 2006 to zero by mid-2006, total days on ventilators from 350-475 per month in early 2006 to approximately 300 by mid-2007 and length of average intensive care stay from 3.5 days in 2005 to approximately one day by 2009.
Nevada's bill would require hospitals to report and allow verification of sentinel events, notify patients of infection rates, post infection rates in public areas and publish readmission rates. The Nevada Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold hearings on the bill today.
Read the Las Vegas Sun report on patient safety transparency.
Read more coverage on patient safety transparency:
- Nevada Lawmakers Hear Testimony on Public Hospital Reporting Legislation
- Institute of Healthcare Improvement Fellow: Transparency and Openness Vital to Patient Safety, Trust
- Some Hospitals Hesitant to Share Medical Errors Despite Push for Greater Transparency
