Harvard School Of Public Health

WHO introduces surgical checklist

Anne Zieger — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:52:47 -0400

The World Health Organization has introduced a surgical checklist designed to make sure that surgeons and operating teams follow safe pre- and post-surgical processes consistently, as well as meet evidence-based guidelines during procedures. The checklist was designed by the Safe Surgery Saves Lives collaboration, which is led by the Harvard School of Public Health. It's designed to reduce complications and mortality among surgical patients. Prior to introducing the checklist, the collaborative pilot-tested the guidelines for a year with eight hospitals around the world. WHO found that medical teams complied with proven standards of care 68 percent of the time after implementing the checklist, WHO officials said.

To learn more about the checklist:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)
- read the WHO checklist

Harvard, RAND-backed provider payment model to be tested

Wed, 21 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

An evidence-based healthcare payment model driven by researchers at RAND Corporation and the Harvard School of Public Health will be rolled out in January at four pilot test sites with funding from a $6.4 million grant.

The project, dubbed Prometheus--for payment reform for outcomes, margins, evidence, transparency, hassle-reduction, understandability and sustainability--is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Payments will be built around a total amount to be paid to all providers for a patient's condition. The project includes 12 evidence-based case rates, which included input from health insurers, employers, physicians and others through a not-for-profit collaboration.

The payment scheme will be kicked off in Rockford, Ill., and Minneapolis, with two other sites still to be announced. HealthPartners, a not-for-profit health plan, will run the project in Minneapolis, and employers will test the model with providers in Rockford.

To learn more about the project:
- read this article from Modern Healthcare (reg. req.)

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Study: Hispanics get lower-quality medical care

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

It's more discouraging news from the health disparity front: A new study suggests that elderly Hispanics tend to get inferior care. The study, which looked at Medicare data from 2004, found that hospitals with high percentages of Hispanic patients seem to have slightly lower quality ratings for heart attack, congestive heart failure and pneumonia care. This ties in with data from the past 20 years demonstrating that minorities get lower quality care in the U.S., even when the data is adjusted for age, patient acuity, income level and insurance status, said Dr. Ashish Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study.

The study also noted that the disparity extends to where Hispanics are treated, as well what care they get. According to the research, more than half of African Americans and Hispanics get treated at only 5 percent of the nation's hospitals.

To learn more about this research:
- read this piece from The Miami Herald

Related Articles:
Study: Hispanics struggle with health system. Report
CMS hopes to close Medicare race, ethnicity gap. Report
Study: 'Medical homes' cut racial care disparities. Report
Racial disparities persist in health outcomes. Report