Coming soon: A new set of HHS-created organizations which will keep a closer eye on providers. That is, unless HHS continues to drag its feet in implementing an existing law requiring it to do just that.
If Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) gets his way, HHS will soon create patient-safety organizations which will collect and organize adverse-event data collected from providers. The organizations' job will be to find the causes of adverse events and help cut down on errors.
Kennedy has asked HHS to create a timetable for creating the regs governing the new patient safety organizations, but they haven't shared one with the Senator. Bureaucracy, or is there more to the delay? I know there's still a lot of static out there regarding which quality measures to choose, but I would have thought this would be fairly routine given that the data won't be published publicly.
To learn more about the pending regs:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece [1]
Related Articles:
Cutting down on hospital errors. Report [2]
By 2008, Medicare won't pay for hospital errors. Report [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/REG/310180015
[2] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/cutting-down-on-hospital-errors/2006-08-30
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/2008-medicare-wont-pay-hospital-errors/2007-08-14