Development of a Web-based event reporting system in an academic environment.

In pursuit of a strategy for patient safety and error reduction, The Ohio State University Health System developed and implemented a standardized voluntary event reporting system. The Web-based application is user friendly as well as context-sensitive and encompasses a broad range of errors, events, and near misses. A full organizational transformation was required to effectively implement the system, which involved process reengineering for event entry and for postentry automated workflows.

Daytime testing after laboratory or home-based polysomnography: comparisons of middle-aged insomnia sufferers and normal sleepers.

Many studies have shown only modest differences between insomnia sufferers and matched, non-complaining normal controls in regard to their levels of daytime sleepiness and diurnal performances. The current study was conducted to determine whether such daytime comparisons might be affected by the setting (home vs. sleep lab) in which study participants sleep on the nights before such testing.

NREM sleep EEG frequency spectral correlates of sleep complaints in primary insomnia subtypes.

Study Objectives: To determine whether the frequency spectrum of the sleep EEG is a physiologic correlate of 1) the degree to which individuals with persistent primary insomnia (PPI) underestimate their sleep time compared with the traditionally scored polysomnogram (PSG) and 2) the sleep complaints in PPI subjects who have relatively long traditionally scored PSG sleep times and relatively greater underestimation of sleep time.

Design: We compared EEG frequency spectra from REM and NREM sleep in PPI subjects subtyped as subjective insomnia sufferers (those with relatively long total sleep time and relative underestimation of sleep time compared with PSG), and objective insomnia sufferers (those with relatively short PSG total sleep time) with EEG frequency spectra in normals. We also studied the correlation between these indices and the degree of underestimation of sleep.

Perceived barriers to medical-error reporting: an exploratory investigation.

Medical-error reporting is an essential component for patient safety enhancement. Unfortunately, medical errors are largely underreported across healthcare institutions. This problem can be attributed to different factors and barriers present at organizational and individual levels that ultimately prevent individuals from generating the report.

Effects of ECT on Polysomnographic Sleep: A Prospective Investigation.

The authors describe a pilot investigation using ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) to assess rapid eye movement (REM) latency in 11 depressed inpatients before and after a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Prior to beginning ECT, all subjects had REM latencies of 56 minutes or less (mean 22 min). A course of ECT was associated with clinical improvement in every patient and a statistically significant (p < 0.