High blood pressure during pregnancy is a well-known danger to mom and baby. A new study emphasizes the continuing neurological danger of preeclampsia for mom in later life. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can occur at any time during life or it can be chronic.  Both women and men suffer from hypertension with men slightly … Continued

A common medical device, a duodenoscope, remains a vector for harm and injury for unsuspecting patients. A duodenoscope is a specialized form of endoscope.  An endoscope is a commonly used medical device with a flexible tube, light, and camera that is used to investigate various regions of the body.  Endoscopes can also be used to … Continued

Criticism of a major review of Emergency Department (ED) diagnostic errors began almost as soon as the study was published. The research, spearheaded by Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center, made headlines. Titles like “More than 7 million incorrect diagnoses made in US emergency rooms every year, government report finds,” grabbed attention and quickly polarized … Continued

Medical scribes document and transcribe physician interaction with patients during clinical appointments.  Does it matter if the scribe is human? In recent years, the number of human medical scribes has grown throughout the healthcare industry.  Scribes accompany providers as they note patient history, features of a physical examination, lab results, create orders or prescriptions, and … Continued

The Joint Commission created the first Sentinel Event policy in 1996.  Since that time, the organization has collected and maintained information on sentinel events.  The latest Sentinel Event Annual Review was recently released by the Joint Commission, offering the 2022 update. The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization based in the US that provides accreditation … Continued

Two studies reviewed Never Events to identify factors and consequences associated with preventable medical errors. Never Events are egregious medical errors that should never occur.  There are seven categories of Never Events that include surgical, device, patient protection, radiologic, environment, criminal and care management events. Recently two published studies took a deeper look into the … Continued

Home infusion therapy is an important avenue for the delivery of needed medication outside a healthcare setting.  But how safe is it? A recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) suggests home infusion therapy (HIT) personnel lack critical training in identifying factors which can contribute to bloodstream infection through central-line catheters. … Continued

An algorithm passed the radiology board exam. Still in its infancy, ChatGPT and other AI applications are changing science, healthcare, and the world we live in. Recent articles in the journal Radiology offer information on the learning capabilities of two generations of Chat generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT). Artificial intelligence (AI) is already in use in … Continued

Defective equipment or poor surgical technique can cause patient burns or fires in the surgical suite. A new safety guide from The Joint Commission details best practices during arthroscopic, laparoscopic, or thoracoscopic procedures. The use of scopes during surgical procedures is common, especially minimally invasive methods designed to avoid an open surgery.  Strong lights are … Continued

Marking its 10th anniversary of providing annual ratings, The Leapfrog Group recently released its 2022 letter-grade report for 3,000 hospitals across the US. The Leapfrog Group is a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing patient safety and reducing harm in healthcare settings. Since 2000, the group has been working to improve the US healthcare system … Continued