Nov

12

Health safety: Physicians of the Massachusetts Medical Society welcome formal launch of Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Center,

Filed Under (Health & Fitness) by health man on 12-11-2009

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Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

Waltham, Mass. January 14 2004–Physicians of the Massachusetts Medical Society today welcomed the formal launch of the Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Center, echoing the conclusion of the state’s report that The quality of medical care in the Commonwealth, health safety, is a matter of importance to all citizens.

Patient safety is a top priority of the state’s physicians, said Thomas E. Sullivan, M.D., president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide association of 18,000 physicians.

As a founding member of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, the Medical Society eagerly looks forward to continue working in collaboration with the Department of Public Health, the Board of Registration in Medicine, and other health care providers in a stronger, more focused effort on improving patient safety and preventing medical errors.

The Society continues its longtime relationship with the Coalition, with John Fromson, M.D., vice president of professional, health safety, development at the Society, serving as vice president of, health safety, the Coalition.

The issue of patient safety is so high on the physicians’ list that the Society included a patient safety provision in its medical liability reform legislation, now pending before state lawmakers. The patient safety provision in the proposed bill calls for insurers to report aggregate data concerning specific areas of risk by specialty and type of legal practices involved in lawsuits. This information would be made available to the Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Error Prevention, health safety, with the objective to identify trends in order to better focus patient-safety improvements.

The Medical Society has supported the establishment of the Betsy Lehman Center since its inception. In 2001, officials of the Medical Society testified in support of a Senate bill to establish the Center and were present when the bill formally establishing the Center was signed into law in April 2002.

Other Medical Society patient safety initiatives include the release in December 2002 of its Guidelines for Office-Based Surgery, then a new set of recommendations to guide physicians and health care professionals in performing surgical procedures in office-based environments.

The State Board of Registration in Medicine endorsed the Society’s recommendations.

In March 2003, the Society announced the availability of its new Patient Safety Curriculum for health care professionals, available at no charge to health care providers. Developed under the direction of the Society’s Committee on Quality of Medical Practice, the curriculum is designed to educate practicing physicians and residents about opportunities and strategies to improve patient safety. And Medical Society officials continue to work with elected Federal officials in developing and proposing patient safety legislation.

Information on the surgery guidelines and the patient safety curriculum may be downloaded from the Medical Society’s website at www.massmed.org.

Also, in May, the Society will collaborate with the Ford Hall Forum, presenter of the country’s oldest free public lecture series, in conducting a forum entitled Medical Errors and Patient Safety: Where are we now?  The forum, featuring experts in the field of patient safety, will take place Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. at the Massachusetts Medical Society, 860 Winter Street, Waltham, in the Waltham Woods Corporate Center.

The session is part of the Ford Hall Forum’s Winter/Spring 2004 Lecture and Discussion Series and is free and open to the public.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 18,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians and patients of Massachusetts. Founded in 1781, the MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. The Society owns and publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters, AIDS Clinical Care, and produces HealthNews, a consumer health publication.

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Nov

11

Health safety: Massachusetts Medical Society announces completion, offering of Patient Safety Curriculum for health care professionals,

Filed Under (Health & Fitness) by health man on 11-11-2009

Tagged Under : , , , ,

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

Waltham, Mass March 6, 2004–The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), health safety, today announced the completion of its Patient Safety Curriculum, a comprehensive continuing medical education course designed to educate physicians and health care professionals about improvements in patient safety.

The MMS Patient Safety Curriculum, developed under the direction of the Medical Society’s Committee on Quality of Medical Practice, is a three-module course offering patient safety concepts, ways to illustrate the scope and magnitude of medical errors, and information on the nature, distribution, prevention and control of medical errors.

The curriculum has become a cornerstone of the Society’s wide-ranging activities on the topic of patient safety.

MMS President Thomas E. Sullivan, M.D. said patient safety has been and remains a top priority for his organization and its 18,000 physician members. The Society’s focus on improving the communication among health care professionals and between patients, their families and physicians is a giant step forward to preventing medical errors, said Sullivan. We are, health safety, pleased to be taking a leadership role in this critical medical area by offering this comprehensive program along with our other patient safety efforts.

The first module in the program, Medical Error Scenarios and Perspectives on Patient Safety, was made available last March and focuses on patient safety perspectives, identifying errors, designing systems for safety, and Federal mandates for quality improvement.

The final two modules were posted on the Society’s website within the last two weeks, bringing about the announcement of the completed curriculum in observance of National Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 7-13.

The second module, Medication Safety, Systems and Communications, concentrates on such areas as methods to reduce errors in clinical practices, packaging and labeling issues, dangers of handwritten prescriptions, doctor-patient communication, transcultural issues, and medication errors, including those that happen at home.

The third program, Case Studies and Root Cause Analysis of Adverse Events,presents cases that describe adverse events and medical errors to illustrate how to conduct a root cause analysis – an important tool for understanding and addressing adverse events in health care.

Health care professionals may download the curriculum free from the Medical Society’s website at www.massmed.org. The curriculum comes with an instructors’ guide and is designed to be taught by practicing clinicians as well as experts in the patient safety field.

In addition to the curriculum, Sullivan cited the Medical Society’s other major developments and their progress that will add significantly to patient safety efforts, most notably in the arena of information technology with electronic prescribing and electronic medical records.

The use of information technology and clinical decision support, such as checking for drug allergies and drug interaction, will have a huge impact on patient safety, said Sullivan. The Massachusetts Medical, health safety, Society is in the forefront of these innovative efforts nationally and locally. We are beginning to offer advanced electronic prescribing to our members, and we are coming ever closer to setting standards for the use of electronic medical records.

Both of these activities will add immeasurably to improving patient safety and the quality of care.

Sullivan also called attention to the Society’s collaboration with the Ford Hall Forum, presenter of the country’s oldest free public lecture series, in conducting a forum entitled Medical Errors and Patient Safety: Where are we now? Featuring some the nation’s leading experts on the topic, the forum will take place Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. at the Massachusetts Medical Society, 860 Winter Street, Waltham, in the Waltham Woods Corporate Center.

The session is part of the Ford Hall Forum’s Winter/Spring 2004 Lecture and Discussion Series and is free and open to the public.

The collaborative effort with the Ford Hall Forum will be the MMS’s third symposium on patient safety this year. Last month, MMS conducted a forum in concert with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors. That forum, attracting some 200 physicians and health care providers, focused on medication errors. And on April 26, MMS will sponsor another continuing medical education course, The Human Factor: the Critical Importance of Effective Communication and Teamwork in Patient Safety.

MMS also offers on its website a wealth of other patient safety information, for patients as well as health care professionals.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 18,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians and patients of Massachusetts, health safety, . Founded in 1781, the MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. The Society owns and publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters, and AIDS Clinical Care, and produces HealthNews, a consumer health publication.

For more information, visit www.massmed.org

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