News and Media

Welcome to Quality Buzz. Quality Buzz is dedicated to bringing you all the latest news and information to help you improve the quality of your health care. We update this section weekly and hope that it will become an important resource for you.

January 27, 2009 — New Incentive for E-Prescribing

New indications show that handwritten prescriptions may become things of the past. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Medicare is now paying doctors a bonus to switch their patients over to e-prescribing. Several technology companies are following suit by giving doctors free software to encourage this switch. As a result, the number of physicians prescribing medicines electronically has more than doubled in the past year.

How will this affect you and me? For one thing, e-prescribing has been shown to help reduce errors that can occur with written prescriptions, which I think everyone can agree is a good thing.

With cold and flu season upon us, a USA Today article tells us about an easy (and free!) preventative measure: wash your hands... thoroughly. Health experts say that hand washing has a "huge health impact," particularly since a large percentage of infections are transported by touch. Individuals who fail to wash up may put themselves and their families at greater risk for developing flu-like symptoms or worse.

I'd say that a little soap and water goes a long way. To learn more about easy steps you can take to prevent infections, check out our fact sheet.

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January 21, 2009 — A Checklist for Surgical Success

Recent research shows that patient deaths and complications can be reduced by using a pen and paper. According to an article in the Boston Globe, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that doctors can dramatically decrease the risk of complications by completing a safety checklist before, during and after surgery. Experts believe that these findings could change a widespread opinion that checklists waste precious minutes in the operating room. Personally, I find it encouraging that any facility—small or large—has the chance to improve its standards through old fashioned collaboration and teamwork among its doctors and nurses.

I encourage everyone to ask if their hospitals are using a checklist in the operating room. If patients/families started asking, perhaps more hospitals would use them.

A report from the Associated Press indicates an "alarming" increase in MRSA cases in children's ear, nose and throat infections nationwide. And the study found the majority of these infections were contracted outside of hospital settings. To learn how to best prevent infections, I highly recommend taking a look at this page.

Other interesting news/articles this week include:

• Messages often muddled in doctor-patient talks, Reuters
• Home sick: When the burden of care falls on the family, Wall Street Journal
• Urinary Tract Infections: Common But Avoidable in Hospitals, USA Today

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January 12, 2009 — Great Resources to Help You Find the Best Doctor

For those of us who feel overwhelmed by the incredible amounts of information on the web about doctors and diseases, a recent New York Times article provides some useful guidance and advice. Dr. Pauline W. Chen talked to medical specialists from many different fields to find out how they would advise their patients to find the right doctor. Many doctors urged patients to consult their closest friends and to ask prospective doctors how much experience they have with specific conditions and/or operations. Many recommended visiting websites from professional societies and licensing boards. For example, in Massachusetts we have The Board of Registration in Medicine (www.massmedboard.org).

The New York Times article also recommends www.familydoctor.org and www.informedmedicaldecisions.org for presenting dense content on medical treatment options in an easy-to-understand format.

For those getting the sniffles this season, an article in USA Today reminds us why taking antibiotics often isn't a great idea. Health experts suggest that relying on these medicines can cause more harm than good. This is particularly true for ailments such as colds, influenza, most sore throats and a vast majority of bronchitis cases – none of which can be treated by antibiotics. Instead, experts recommend that patients weigh the personal risks, benefits and potential side effects before deciding on a treatment.

A recent Wall Street Journal article may change the way we think about yearly physicals. The piece discusses how getting to know your doctor through these annual checkups is more than just a quick health fix and is not a holdover from days of doctors making house calls. As it turns out, the annual physical is a great opportunity to ask personal questions that can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle year-round and for your doctor to get to know you better. Now that's something we can all embrace.

Finally, as briefly noted last week, recent reports suggest that where you have surgery can greatly impact the success of your operation and recovery. Studies mentioned in the New York Times remind us about the online resources at our fingertips which can help identify the best quality care for our needs.

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January 08, 2009 — A New Tool Shows Variation in Quality Among MA Nursing Homes

Happy New Year to all. 2009 promises to be a very busy year with health care as a key element of the presidential agenda.

The New Year starts with an interesting new resource for people who are choosing a nursing home - for themselves or loved ones. The Federal Medicare program launched a website to help consumers compare quality ratings (www.medicare.gov/NHCompare) of all Medicare-certified nursing homes in the United States. It uses a 5-star rating system to summarize results from health inspection standards, nursing home staffing levels, quality measures and fire safety inspection results.

An important note for Massachusetts residents – our local nursing homes earned mixed reviews. Of the 433 homes in the state, 72 homes received the highest rating of 5 stars and 62 homes received the lowest rating of 1 star.

For anyone trying to decide which hospital to use, a fascinating article in the Boston Globe discusses some important items to consider. It addresses a key question that may be on the minds of many of us when we seek routine care– do smaller community hospitals offer equal (or even better) quality care than larger teaching hospitals? The article offers a lot of good information and food for thought.

Finally, for those who find the majority of their health information online, an article in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reviews a new set of online tools that may make healthy living even easier. Written for consumers who don't know where to start, this article recommends resources that provide insight on a variety of common health concerns, questions and next steps. All with a few clicks of the mouse. Happy clicking!

Other interesting news/articles this week include:
 

• Should Patients Be Told of Better Care Elsewhere?, The New York Times
• More Isn't Always Better in Coronary Care, The New York Times

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December 18, 2008 — New Quality Website: Why Not the Best?

This week, the Commonwealth Fund launched a new quality website (www.whynotthebest.org), which allows consumers to compare hospitals across the country on the basis of quality measures as well as patient satisfaction scores and keep track of improvements over time.

This site, along with the new MyHealthCareOptions site (see last week's Buzz below), is a great addition to the toolbox of resources now available to each of us to help inform our hospital choices.

How do these sites compare? First of all, My Health Care Options is limited to hospitals in Massachusetts while the Why Not the Best includes hospitals throughout the US. While both sites report quality metrics, the Massachusetts site also includes cost comparisons while the national site includes patient satisfaction scores. I would use both sites when doing research on hospitals.

I would also like to draw your attention to an interesting article that came out this week about doctor using computers to "write" prescriptions instead of the handwritten pads. Research shows that so-called "e-prescribing" is good for consumers because it helps reduce prescribing errors.

Over time, we hope that more doctors will switch to e-prescribing as a way of offering higher quality care.
 

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December 11, 2008 — New Website for Massachusetts Consumers: MyHealthCareOptions

Massachusetts consumers now have a powerful new tool for improving the quality of their healthcare at their fingertips. Just this week, the state's Health Care Quality and Cost Council launched a website (www.mass.gov/myhealthcareoptions) designed to help consumers compare Massachusetts hospitals on the basis of quality and cost (read press release).

The website is a treasure chest of valuable information that allows consumers to compare cost and quality information about common medical procedures at Massachusetts hospitals and outpatient facilities.

The designers of the website have done a great job presenting what can sometimes be complex information in an easy-to-understand format.

Jim Conway, Chairman of the Partnership and a Senior Vice President at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is a member of the Council.

In the coming issues of "The Buzz," we will highlight key findings from the information presented on the site. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to visit this valuable and informative website and see for yourselves.
 

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November 24, 2008 — A Note from Marilyn Kramer, Executive Director

I am happy to announce the launch of Quality Buzz, a new section of our website dedicated to bringing you all the latest news and information to help you improve the quality of your health care. We will update this section often and hope that it will become an important resource for you.

This week, I want to draw your attention to a study recently released by the highly respected Commonwealth Fund that found major differences between the United States and seven other countries with respect to health care access, safety, and care efficiency. Not only are many chronically ill Americans foregoing care due to cost, but the study found that American patients are far more likely to experience a medical error or lack coordination in their care than patients in the other countries. This study validates the importance of being engaged in your health care and that of your family. It also reminds us of there is work to be done to reduce medical errors and improve the coordination of care.

Other interesting news/articles this week include:
 

• Advocating for a Patient, The Wall Street Journal
• Hospital striving to boost its score, The Boston Globe
• "The Effects of Defensive Medicine on Health Care and What We Can Do about It", Commonhealth

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