quality
CEPAC meeting in CT – effective sleep apnea treatment
Yesterday’s New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) meeting centered on sleep apnea. Too many new (and expensive) treatments and technologies are adopted and gain wide use without a careful analysis of their effectiveness in treating the condition and/or cost effectiveness compared to other options. CEPAC’s mission is to produce actionable information to aid…
Read MoreNo CT hospitals make top quality list
The national experts who are responsible for accrediting US hospitals, the Joint Commission, has just released their list of 620 hospitals, Top Performers on Key Quality Measures. The 620 hospitals were recognized for providing “evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to be the best treatments for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical…
Read MoreCEPAC coming to CT December 6th
The New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) will hold our next meeting here in CT — December 6th from 10am to 4pm at the Legislative Office Building. Too many new (and expensive) treatments and technologies are adopted and gain wide use before a careful analysis of their effectiveness in treating the condition and/or…
Read MoreFour CT hospitals earn highest Medicare readmission penalty
Starting in October, Medicare will begin reducing reimbursements to Griffin Hospital, St. Raphael’s, Masonic Home and Hospital, and Midstate Medical Center by 1% because of high patient readmission rates. Eight CT hospitals – Hartford, Hebrew Home and Hospital, Manchester, Middlesex, Rockville, Sharon, Backus and Windham hospitals – will have no deductions to their Medicare payments…
Read MoreTwelve CT hospitals rate just a “C” on patient safety
Over 400 people die every day in a US hospital due to a preventable error, according to the Hospital Safety Score website. The site gives twelve CT hospitals a “C” or average rating on patient safety including Waterbury, Stamford, Bridgeport, Charlotte Hungerford, New Milford, St. Mary’s, Milford, Yale-New Haven, Backus, Manchester Memorial, and John Dempsey…
Read MoreCT hospital info scarce on new rating site
The Leapfrog Group, a national leader in improving the quality and value of health care, has released a new web tool comparing hospitals on patient safety performance. Unfortunately, only two CT hospitals responded to the Leapfrog survey – Sharon and Backus Hospitals. Both did very well in two areas including managing serious errors; both needed…
Read MoreCEPAC meeting focuses on ADHD treatments
The spring CEPAC meeting last Friday at the University of New Hampshire was a deep dive into research comparing treatments for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). CEPAC is a New England regional public advisory group convened to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of competing treatments. CEPAC includes clinicians, academics, patient advocates and (nonvoting) payer…
Read MoreHospital errors rising, state investigations dropping
An analysis by the CT Health I-Team of DPH hospital adverse event reports finds that the number of errors has risen steadily over the last five years. The same investigation finds that DPH investigations of serious medical errors in hospitals have been rare and the numbers are dropping. Of 17 patients who reportedly died or…
Read MoreOvertreatment webinar slides and video posted
Slides and video from Rosemary Gibson’s webinar on What States Can Do About Health Care Overuse are posted. Rosemary Gibson has authored several books on the overuse of medical care, how it is harming our health, fueling health costs, and what we can do about it. The next webinar is The Promise of Shared Decision-Making…
Read MoreCEPAC meeting – comparing treatment resistant depression treatments
Friday’s CEPAC meeting in Providence was fascinating. We spent the day comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of some common and some new treatments for people with treatment resistant depression (TRD). Between 13 and 14 million Americans experience clinical depression each year, but only about half seek treatment and only 20% of those get adequate…
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