Quality and Safety

Mortality rates have not improved, and obesity is on the rise, but there Is some good news.

Specific hospital ratings will be posted on the CMS Hospital Compare website soon.

Its focus is on primary care in medically underserved communities.

This is the sixth year of the Walking Gallery of Healthcare.  We now number over 300 members walking around the world with patient story paintings on our backs.  We are attending medical conferences where often there isn’t a patient speaker on the dais or in the audience. We are providing a patient voice, and by doing so, are changing the conversation. An artist or artists interviews medical professionals and lay individuals to form a patient centric narrative. The artist then creates representational imagery and paint that picture story upon the business jacket of the provider of the narrative account. The provider of the patient story aka “Walker” wears the jacket to medical conferences and events in order to disseminate the patient story to a large group of policy minded attendees and to represent the individual patient voice in venues where they are underrepresented. Further, both artist and walker will support the spread of the story and image via social media. As of July 2016, 396 unique Walkers have joined the Gallery wearing 434 jackets.  The Gallery has representatives on five continents, but the majority of Walkers reside in the US. One artist creates the majority of the art, but new artists are frequently joining the movement.  The Gallery is promoted heavily on twitter, facebook and personal blogs.   Its widening appeal within the health conference community is creating a new space for patients at such events. The names of the Artists of The Walking Gallery followed by the quantity of jackets they have painted:   1. Regina Holliday, 376 jackets 2. Isaac Holliday, 1 jacket 3. Becca Price, 1 jacket 4. Miriam Cutelis, 1 jacket 5. Ess Lipczenko, 1 jacket 6. Ben Merrion, 1 jacket 7. Courtney Mazza, 8 jackets 8. Michele Banks, 1 jacket 9. Megan Mitchell,1 jacket 10. Robert J. Filley, 3 jackets 11. Anita Samarth, 1 jacket 12. Mary Welch Higgins, 2 jackets 13. Richard Sachs, 2 jackets 14. Jonah Daniel,  1 jacket 15. Fred Trotter, 1 jacket 16. Leela, 1 jacket 17. Gayle Schrier Smith, 1 jacket 18. Moira Simms, 1 jacket 19. Joan Holliday, 1 jacket 20. Adalyn, 1 jacket 21. Chris Chan, 1 jacket 22. Amy O'Hanlon, 1 jacket 23. Vera Rulon, 1 jacket 24. Jessica Nicula, 2 jackets 25. Nikai, 1 jacket 26. Deonm, 1 jacket 27. Daquane, 1 jacket 28. Olivia Dias, 1 jacket 29. Donnell Bonaparte, 1 jacket 30. Hazel F., 1 jacket 31. Rachel Fields, 1 jacket 32. Zoe Carr, 1 jacket 33. Thomas Richardson, 1 jacket 34. Tamela Mack, 1 jacket 35. Julia Anderson, 1 jacket 36. DJ Hamilton, 1 jacket 37. Jenn Toby, 1 jacket 38. Camala Walling, 1 jacket 39. Jordan Lanham, 1 jacket 40. Josh Miller, 1 jacket 41.  Te'j Matthews, 1 jacket 42.  Tony Zieger, 1 jacket 43.   Shannon Shine, 2 jackets 44.   Melody Smith Jones. 2 jacket 45.  Kay Seurat, 1 jacket    For more information about joining the movement or to see all 400 plus jackets, please scroll to the bottom of this post. The Walking members who joined in Year Six:   434. "Growth" a jacket for Corinna West   433. "The Anointed Ones" a jacket for Benjamin Berlin     432. "Boston Heart Mom"  a jacket for Tami Rich   431. "At the End of my Rope" a jacket for Abby Bott   If you are interested in joining the Walking Gallery, here is the info: http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-do-you-join-walking-gallery.html If you would like to help fund the movement: https://www.gofundme.com/h2dsdwe4  Here is a short film about the movement: Read: http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com/2011/04/walking-gallery.html  to understand the origin of the idea.  

With an eye on improving safety, increasing compliance and reducing waste, an increasing number of hospitals and health systems are looking to insource and automate their IV compounding processes.  

"We understand new rules require adjustment and preparation," said Andy Slavitt, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator.

University of Vermont Medical Center, an academic medical center in Burlington, has tracked more than 5 million medications using radio frequency identification.

Intermountain Healthcare, Stanford Cancer Institute, Providence Health & Services, Catholic Health Initiative and Henry Ford Health System have joined with precision medicine company Syapse for OPeN, the Oncology Precision Network.

The effort will help doctors boost access to precision medicine for 10,000 VA veterans with cancer.

The physician practice association offered recommendations for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and Alternative Payment Models proposed by MACRA – including a reduction of reporting requirements across MIPS.