Funds Allocated to Develop, Implement, and Evaluate Patient Safety Approaches and Medical Liability Reform Models
Largest federal investment connecting medical liability to quality
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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today announced grants to support efforts by States and health systems to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms. The demonstration and planning grants are part of the patient safety and medical liability initiative that President Obama announced during a September 9, 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.
As part of his vision for a health care system that puts patient safety first and allows doctors to focus on practicing medicine, the President directed the Secretary of HHS to help States and health care systems test models that: (1) put patient safety first and work to reduce preventable injuries; (2) foster better communication between doctors and their patients; (3) ensure that patients are compensated in a fair and timely manner for medical injuries, while also reducing the incidence of frivolous lawsuits; and (4) reduce liability premiums.
Overall funding for the initiative is $25 million, with $23 million allocated to grants and $2 million allocated to a final evaluation contract. The HHS Patient Safety and Medical Liability initiative supports the following:
- Grants to jump-start and evaluate efforts. Three-year grants of up to $3 million to States and health systems for implementation and evaluation of patient safety and medical liability demonstrations.
- Planning grants. One year grants of up to $300,000 to States and health systems in order to plan to implement and evaluate patient safety and medical liability demonstrations.
- Review of existing initiatives. In December 2009, AHRQ issued a review of reforms to the medical liability system and their impact on health care quality, patient safety, and medical liability claims.
“This new research is the largest government investment connecting medical liability to quality and aims to improve the overall quality of health care,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Some of the reforms that are being planned and tested under HHS’s initiative address limitations of the current medical liability system – such as costs, patient safety, and administrative burden for doctors. Grants support the creation of a judge-directed negotiation program, the development of “safe harbors” for state-endorsed evidence-based care guidelines, and early disclosure and offers of prompt compensation.
Another component of the initiative is an evaluation of improvements in both patient safety and medical liability systems. The evaluation is designed to develop the evidence base that will inform long-term solutions to the medical liability problem. This evaluation project was awarded to JBA/RAND for $2 million.
“The goals of the HHS Patient Safety and Medical Liability initiative are widely supported throughout the health care system, and we solicited broad-based input to ensure that it reflects the needs of stakeholders,” said Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., AHRQ director. “The projects we have funded help create measurable differences in the safety of health care for patients and help bring rationality and fairness to our medical liability system.”
The funded projects are:
Demonstration Grants:
Timothy McDonald, M.D., J.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, $2,998,083
Stanley Davis, M.D., Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis, MN, $2,982,690
Eric Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, $1,796,575
Ann Hendrich, M.S., R.N., F.A.A.N., Ascension Health System, St. Louis, MO, $2,990,612
Thomas Gallagher, M.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA, $2,972,209
Judy Kluger, J.D., New York State Unified Court System, New York, NY, $2,999,787
Alice Bonner, M.S., APRN, BC, Massachusetts State Department of Public Health, Boston, MA, $2,912,566
Planning Grants:
Lynn Marie Crider, J.D., Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research, Portland, OR $299,458
Richard David, M.D., John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, $293,225
Dianne Garcia, J.D., Multicare Health System, Tacoma, WA, $291,810
Wendell Hoffman, M.D., Sanford Research, Sioux Falls, SD, $294,137
Elizabeth Guenther, M.D., M.P.H., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, $299,999
Karen Domino, M.D., M.P.H., University of Washington, Seattle, WA, $295,837
David Baker, Ph.D., Carilion Medical Center, Roanoke, VA, $280,924
Kenneth Sands, M.D., M.P.H., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, $273,782
Nicoletta Tessler, M.A., Psy.D., Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL, $299,576
Cynthia Shellhaas, M.D., M.P.H., Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, $187,437
John Buckley, M.D., Wishard Health Services, Indianapolis, IN, $154,124
Cindy Lou Corbett, Ph.D., Washington State University, Pullman, WA, $298,810
Steven Crane, M.D., NC State/Department HHS, Raleigh, NC, $297,710
For details on each project go to: http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/liability/
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
CONTACT:
HHS Press Office
202-690-6343
or
AHRQ Public Affairs
301-427-1855
KEYWORDS: United States North America District of Columbia
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Public Policy/Government Healthcare Reform Public Policy State/Local White House/Federal Government General Health Managed Care
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