News by Topic: Health care quality

News from the past 14 days. Please visit the News Archive for earlier stories.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Launches Commission to Look Beyond Medical Care System to Improve the Health of All Americans     Top Story 
Nov 19, 2009 -- Shortfalls in health take years off the lives of all Americans and hurt our nation's economy, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which today announced the new Commission to Build a Healthier America, a national, independent and nonpartisan health commission that will focus on factors outside the health care system and identify non-medical, evidence-based strategies—both short- and long-term—to improve the health of all Americans.

Chair of RUPRI’s Rural Health Panel Appointed to the AHRQ National Advisory Council
Nov 17, 2009 -- Keith Mueller, Chair of the RUPRI Rural Health Panel and Associate Dean, Department Chair, and Professor in the College of Public Health, Department of Health Services Research and Administration, UNMC has been appointed to the AHRQ National Advisory Council by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Uninsured Twice as Likely to Die in ER     Top Story 
Nov 17, 2009 -- CBS News reports that uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

Electronic Health Records Not Yet Making Impact, Patients Turn to Web for Advice
Nov 16, 2009 -- Kaiser Health News reports that as the United States launches "an ambitious program, backed by $19 billion in government incentives, to accelerate the adoption of computerized patient records in doctors' offices and hospitals," a new study of 3,000 hospitals "has found little difference in the cost and quality of care," The New York Times reports.

Medicare Paid Over $92 Million in Incentives for 2008 Under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative     Top Story 
Nov 16, 2009 -- More than 85,000 physicians and other eligible professionals who successfully reported quality-related data to Medicare under the 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) received incentive payments totaling more than $92 million, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today, well above the $36 million paid in 2007.

HHS Secretary Appoints Members to AHRQ National Advisory Council     Top Story 
Nov 13, 2009 -- Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appointed seven new members to the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a council that provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary and the director of the agency on priorities for a national health services research agenda.

In Rural Kentucky, A Surprising Twist on the Health Debate     Top Story 
Nov 13, 2009 -- Kaiser Health News article reports that bad as most health measures appear in lower Appalachia, there are enduring models in places like Hazard that could prove instructive to rebuilding healthy communities across the nation, both rural and urban, according to Dr. Forest Callico, former director of the Appalachian Regional Hospitals and a rural health advisor to both the Clinton and second Bush administrations.

Joint Commission, HHS Team Up in Language Access Education Effort     Top Story 
Nov 12, 2009 -- Amid growing concerns about racial, ethnic and language disparities in health care, The Joint Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights have released a video, entitled “Improving Patient-Provider Communication,” which supports language access in health care organizations.

Sebelius Announces Release of Recovery Act Funding to Improve Care in Nation’s Ambulatory Surgical Centers     Top Story 
Nov 12, 2009 -- To reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in stand-alone or same-day surgical centers, the HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the availability of up to $9 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to state survey agencies in 43 states.