Study Objective: We describe the incidence and types of medical errors in emergency departments (EDs) and assess the validity of a survey instrument that identifies systems factors contributing to errors in EDs.
Methods: We conducted the National Emergency Department Safety Study in 62 urban EDs across 20 US states. We reviewed 9,821 medical records of ED patients with one of 3 conditions (myocardial infarction, asthma exacerbation, and joint dislocation) to evaluate medical errors.
Previous studies documented racial and gender disparities in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement. The authors examined whether racial and gender disparities in ICD placement are due to underutilization or overutilization. Among 1,054 adults hospitalized from 2001 to 2004 with ventricular arrhythmias in a large academic hospital, the study found that 17% of patients had clinical indicators concordant with ICD placement criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Health Resources and Services Administration Health Disparities Collaboratives (HDCs) were developed to improve care for chronic medical conditions in community health centers (CHCs).
Methods: We examined whether HDCs reduced disparities in quality by race/ethnicity or insurance status in CHCs nationally. We performed a controlled preintervention/postintervention study of 44 CHCs participating in HDCs for asthma, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension and 20 "external" control CHCs that had not participated.
Study Objective: Well-functioning systems are critical to safe patient care, but little is known about the status of such systems in US health care facilities, including high-risk settings such as the emergency department (ED). The purpose of this study is to assess the degree to which EDs are designed, managed, and supported in ways that ensure patient safety.
Methods: This was a validated, psychometrically tested survey of clinicians working in 65 US EDs that assessed clinician perceptions about the EDs' physical environment, staffing, equipment and supplies, nursing, teamwork, safety culture, triage and monitoring, information coordination and consultation, and inpatient coordination.
Background: Quality improvement collaboratives (QICs) based on the Chronic Care Model (CCM) are widely used models for improving medical care, but there has been little information to date about the specific projects undertaken by participants in these collaboratives and their outcomes.
Objectives: To describe initiatives undertaken by community health centers (CHCs) participating in QICs (the Health Disparities Collaboratives) for asthma, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, and to determine whether particular features of these initiatives were associated with improvement in health care processes or outcomes.
Research Design: Observational cohort study.