The ERM experience of the Lombardy Region as a tool for improving the safety of the regional health care system.

The Regional Center for Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety of the Lombardy Region, with the technical partnership of Aon, designed an innovative Healthcare Enterprise Risk Management Model (hereafter HERM) to meet the following objectives: 1) Improve the safety of the Regional Healthcare System through the implementation of methods and tools aimed to identify, analyze and mange in an integrated way all the risks to which are exposed the healthcare companies. 2) Preserve the creation of social value in the medium-long term and the sustainable achievement of strategic and operational objectives. 3) Optimize risk management costs.

[Assessment of a mass screening program for breast cancer in the Milan Health Unit 1 (ASL Provincia di Milano 1)].

This study examines the early data of a breast cancer screening campaign (Progetto Donna) set up by the Milan Health Unit 1 in 1999. The authors have focused on some basic organizational aspects of such campaign and the patients' high response to the project showed a good efficiency of this initiative, aimed at informing and awakening people. The high rate of suspiciously positive results checked in several Hospitals, led to a careful assessment of the quality and the standards of radiology services.