Hospital Peer Review – March 1, 2016
March 1, 2016
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High Reliability Organizations Aim High, Strive for Zero
Hospitals and health systems are always striving to improve quality and become more reliable providers of healthcare, but some are setting even higher goals by striving to become high reliability organizations. With the HRO concept, these hospitals are aiming not to just improve and reduce errors, but to completely eliminate them.
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Preoccupied with Failure, HROs Constantly Ask Why
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio provides the following summary of the five key characteristics of a high reliability organization:
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STAR, CUSS, Secret Shoppers Promote Reliability
Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston adopted several programs to promote high reliability among its employees.
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Protect Your Peer Review Privilege Or Lose Major Protection
Quality peer review depends on people being able to openly discuss issues without fear that the information will be made public, so the law provides a shield that keeps lawyers and others from demanding access.
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Create Culture of Confidentiality Through Education
The best way to protect physician-related materials from discovery under state peer review statutes is to develop what might be called a “culture of confidentiality” in peer review proceedings, suggests Karen Owens, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Coppersmith Brockelman in Phoenix. To expedite the development of such a culture, she recommends the following steps:
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Don’t Overreach, and Argue for Broad Interpretation in Court
Courts typically see confidentiality issues arise in the context of discovery disputes in medical malpractice cases, says Karen Owens, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Coppersmith Brockelman in Phoenix. Naturally, plaintiffs’ counsel would like nothing better than to get into the peer review files they think will prove their case, so they will look hard for ways to squeeze past the statutory protections, she says.
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Follow Peer Review Procedures Rigorously to Protect Privilege
The peer review committee meets at 7 a.m., followed by a tumor board and then four administration meetings back to back. None of the physicians really want to be in the room at that moment, and one has showed up early for the next meeting and wants to stay there with her coffee and donut instead of coming back later.
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Hospital Culture Must Be Measured, Not Just Improved
Hospitals strive to have the right culture, particularly when it comes to patient safety, but measuring improvement can be challenging. It’s not enough to strive for a health culture, says one expert. You also have to know if you’re getting any closer to your goal.
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CMS Proposes Access to information for Quality, Patient Care Improvement
CMS has proposed rules that will expand access to analyses and data that will help providers, employers, and others make more informed decisions about care delivery.
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CMS Releases Guide to Preventing Readmissions Among Diverse Beneficiaries
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health has released a new Guide to Preventing Readmissions among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Medicare Beneficiaries.