Patient Safety & Outcomes

CMS introduced the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in 2010 to encourage lower readmissions by penalizing hospitals with high rates.

Using a rapid assessment zone model in a high-volume emergency department can help reduce front-end bottlenecks, according to a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Asking patients to be involved in deciding how many opioids they need could help lower opioid prescribing rates, according to a study published in The Green Journal.

In predominantly English-speaking settings, patients with limited English proficiency and chronic conditions had higher rates of emergency department revisits and hospital readmissions than English-proficient patients, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Nearly half of women discharged with an opioid prescription after giving birth via cesarean section are over-prescribed, according to a new study.

Surgeons concerned that prescribing few opioids might hurt their patient satisfactions scores can breathe a sigh of relief, according to a new study.

A smell that left several staff members feeling "sick to their stomach" resulted in the shutting down of the operating room at University of Vermont Medical Center's Fanny Allen campus in Colchester last week, according to a VT Digger report.

HHS published a five-page guide on how to safely taper patients off opioids Oct. 10.  

Financial reimbursement incentives helped curb excessive opioid prescribing after surgical procedures, according a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Sepsis kills nearly 270,000 Americans each year1. Mortality from sepsis increases by as much as 8% for every hour treatment is delayed2.