Dive Metrics:
- A new study suggests that a lack of access to reliable data on patient harm is preventing improvement in lowering risk to patients.
- The study, which was conducted by Patient Safety Organization Pascal Metrics, involved surveying patient safety professionals from hospitals across the U.S. 90% of those responding said that while patient harm is frequently discussed in their health systems, just 24% felt current technologies showed sufficiently detailed harm rates and patterns within units.
- Meanwhile, 98% of respondents said it would be helpful to see patient harm risks and patterns in near real-time.
Dive Insight:
It's worth noting here that Pascal Metrics is selling a product that offers just the patient harm data automation it mentioned, one which scans EMR data and other health IT inputs to alert professionals when it senses that intervention is needed. In other words, though patient safety professionals may like the idea, they weren't being asked about it by a neutral researcher.
More to the point, while this may turn out to be a strategy adopted by hospitals across the U.S. at some point, it seems unlikely that they'll have the cash to invest in this area anytime soon. Hospital CIOs are already putting aside existing projects, unable to afford them, in favor of preparing for the ICD-10 switchover and launching/developing their EMRs.
Nonetheless, as Pascal notes, a third of patients are harmed in U.S. hospitals, and this harm may cost the nation more than $100 billion, according to research appearing Health Affairs. Eventually this problem will rise to the top again, particularly as payers step up the financial punishments for mistakes.