Public Citizen Seeking Patient Safety Recommendations for Health Care Reform

[Guest guest]

Subject: Please Respond: Public Citizen Seeking Patient Safety

Recommendations for Health Care Reform

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Alan Levine <_alanlevinedc@..._ (mailto:alanlevinedc@...)

>

Date: Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 9:25 AM

Subject: Public Citizen Report on Patient Safety Recommendations for

Health Care Reform

Public Citizen, where I work part-time, is planning to issue a report on

patient safety initiatives that should be considered as part of health care

reform. We are interested in getting your ideas.

We are trying to assemble a " laundry list " of lssues and accomplishable

" best practices " reforms that would save lives and money. In many cases these

might be things that have been practiced with great success in one

hospital or one jurisdiction that could be applied across the country, such as

reforms to prevent catheter infections.

While your ideas don't have to be provided in great detail, please provide

enough information so we can carefully consider all suggestions.

Please email your recommendations to _alanlevinedc@..._

(mailto:alanlevinedc@...)

Because we are hoping to get a report out within a couple of weeks, we

would like to have your ideas by Tuesday evening, July 7, 2009. If you have

suggestions for referencing studies or other supporting source materials

please send those, too ... either the studies or the cites.

So far, our initial brainstorming has come up with the following:

1. Address health care associated infections (Consumers Union work, HHS

Action Plan report and concerns/limitations about report). This has cost

savings.

2. Through Federal incentives, improve state medical board regulatory

activities (more effective public advocates, more complete web information on

doctors, strengthen requirements for continuing competency)

3. Through Federal initiatives, increase number of states with hospital

adverse event reporting systems (only 26 states had reporting as of 1/08).

Recommend greater transparency.

4. Strengthen (fix) hospital peer review, including Federal oversight of

hospital peer review

5. patient engagement

6. Reduce medical resident work hours

7. Create a national body to lead patient safety efforts, which would help

to coordinate, but not replace, current efforts by government agencies and

private entities. (This could be in HHS, reporting directly to the

Secretary, avoiding bureaucratic hassles/turf wars in AHRQ)

In addition to asking for your ideas, we will be researching advocacy web

sites, journal articles, etc.

Thanks.

If anyone would like to talk about this request, I can be contacted, as

follows:

Public Citizen: 202 588-7736

Home Office - 202 547-7779

Cell - 202 657-2400

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