Medical Error is the Fifth-Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.

Clinical Information Systems Implemented to Prevent Errors and Enhance Patient Safety
WALTHAM, Mass. -- Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence has conducted a detailed and thorough analysis of the acute care clinical information systems (CIS) market and finds that a major driver in the US is the demand for improvement in patient safety.

Medical errors are the fifth-leading cause of deaths in the US, with up to 98,000 deaths annually. According to the new report entitled US Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems, hospitals are adopting CIS to help them provide adequate, timely care and reduce the frequency of preventable errors.

"Medical errors in the healthcare system arise from miscommunication, physician order transcription errors, adverse drug events, or incomplete patient medical records," says David Plow, Senior Analyst at MRG. "Generally, medical errors are caused by overcrowded, understaffed clinical areas with complex workflow patterns, and incomplete or inefficient communication between clinical areas. Through the use of a CIS, professionals within each clinical area are able to access and use information pertinent to a patient's medical profile and history. As a result, CIS can effectively help prevent errors and enhance patient safety.

"The CIS market -- comprised of radiology information systems, pharmacy and medication management information systems, cardiovascular and cardiology information systems, laboratory information systems, emergency department information systems, and critical care information systems -- was valued at over $900 million in 2005. By 2010, revenues in the CIS market will exceed $1.5 billion.

MRG's US Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems report includes coverage of all key industry competitors, including Misys Healthcare, Cerner, GE Healthcare, McKesson, Siemens Medical Solutions, Philips Medical Systems, MEDITECH, Systems, Picis, Heartlab, Camtronics, Epic Systems, Soft Computer, Allscripts, MEDHOST, Mediware, Orchard Software, Eclipsys, LUMEDX, Aspyra, Wellsoft, Stryker, Agfa Healthcare, Emergisoft, Amicas, CPSI, QuadraMed, DR Systems, Eastman Kodak, Emageon, Meta, Emdeon, Fujifilm Medical Systems, iMDsoft, Impac, InStar Systems, OptiMed, ScImage, CAOS, and T-System.

A CIS is a computer-based inpatient information system designed for collecting, storing, manipulating, and making available clinical information that is important to the health care delivery process.

It provides access to a patient's electronic medical record-clinical data storage technology that encodes the patient's previous medical history, responses to medication, test results, and current treatment.
by:www.eyeoutforyou.com

Doctors' beliefs can hinder patient care

New laws shore up providers’ right to refuse treatment based on values
Lori Boyer couldn't stop trembling as she sat on the examining table, hugging her hospital gown around her. Her mind was reeling. She'd been raped hours earlier by a man she knew — a man who had assured Boyer, 35, that he only wanted to hang out at his place and talk. Instead, he had thrown her onto his bed and assaulted her. "I'm done with you," he'd tonelessly told her afterward. Boyer had grabbed her clothes and dashed for her car in the freezing predawn darkness. Yet she'd had the clarity to drive straight to the nearest emergency room — Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania — to ask for a rape kit and talk to a sexual assault counselor. Bruised and in pain, she grimaced through the pelvic exam. Now, as Boyer watched Martin Gish, M.D., jot some final notes into her chart, she thought of something the rape counselor had mentioned earlier.

"I'll need the morning-after pill," she told him.

Dr. Gish looked up. He was a trim, middle-aged man with graying hair and, Boyer thought, an aloof manner. "No," Boyer says he replied abruptly. "I can't do that." He turned back to his writing.
Boyer stared in disbelief. No? She tried vainly to hold back tears as she reasoned with the doctor: She was midcycle, putting her in danger of getting pregnant. Emergency contraception is most effective within a short time frame, ideally 72 hours. If he wasn't willing to write an EC prescription, she'd be glad to see a different doctor. Dr. Gish simply shook his head. "It's against my religion," he said, according to Boyer. (When contacted, the doctor declined to comment for this article.)
Boyer left the emergency room empty-handed. "I was so vulnerable," she says. "I felt victimized all over again. First the rape, and then the doctor making me feel powerless." Later that day, her rape counselor found Boyer a physician who would prescribe her EC. But Boyer remained haunted by the ER doctor's refusal — so profoundly, she hasn't been to see a gynecologist in the two and a half years since. "I haven't gotten the nerve up to go, for fear of being judged again," she says.

Doctors refusing treatment
Even under less dire circumstances than Boyer's, it's not always easy talking to your doctor about sex. Whether you're asking about birth control, STDs or infertility, these discussions can be tinged with self-consciousness, even embarrassment. Now imagine those same conversations, but supercharged by the anxiety that your doctor might respond with moral condemnation — and actually refuse your requests.
by:www.msnbc.msn.com

Air Sahara denies entry to cerebral palsy patient

Rajeev Rajan, a disability activist who got the government of Chennai to bend its knees before him by getting two disabled friendly buses moving in the city was himself denied an entry into the aircraft by the ground staff of Air Sahara.

Humiliation did not stop there as the airlines also asked for police intervention. Inspite of the police officials identifying Rajan as a frequent flier due to his social activities, the airlines departed without him. Rajan who suffers from Cerebral Palsy was traveling from Chennai to Delhi for a meeting with the National trust, a government body.

According to Rajan, the ground staff refused him an entry as he was unescorted and he also did not have a fit-to-fly certificate. Upon contacting another private airline, SpiceJet for a ticket, Rajan was yet again turned down. Though the Jet Lite CEO Gary Kingshot admitted that such an incident occurred. “Jet Lite only followed IATA medical manual in respect of wheel chair passenger Mr Rajiv Rajan a cerebral palsy patient,” he said.

A SpiceJet spokesman said that the passenger did not contact them directly. “Jet Lite had asked us to take the passenger but we do not have a internal arrangement with them for passenger sharing. We would have taken him if he had made a fresh booking,” he said.

According to Javed Abidi, a social activist, “Any person suffering from cerebral palsy does not require an escort for travel. Simply because one looks different, does not mean he is unfit. Each person ought to be treated with utmost dignity.”

“Even after one whole day since the incident, there has been no intervention from the National Trust, Department of Disability (Ministry of social justice) or the Office of Chief Commissioner for disabilities is extremely distressing,” said Abidi.

Only recently an autistic child was refused admission into an Air Deccan flight in Bangalore. “While Indian, which is a government owned carrier is careful in dealing with the physically challenged while most private carriers acts irresponsibly as they do not have any policy for the disabled.”

As his next recourse, Rajan will file a PIL against these airlines. Even in the past Rajan has never shied away from fighting for his rights and yet again he would wrestle for justice inspite of his handicap. Disability Legislation Unit, a wing of Vidyasagar, a group of social activists from the South shall file a case in the consumer forum.

While most disability groups, led by Disabled Rights Group, a conglomerate of all disability groups across the country have asked for an unqualified apology from the two airlines; failing to which these groups shall go on a protest march.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Civil Aviation has issued a notice to the managements of SpiceJet and JetLite (Air Sahara's new name) asking for an immediate explanation. The airlines could face action if the DGCA is not satisfied with its reply.
by:www.hindustantimes.com

Airline says sorry for turning away cerebral palsy patient

Social activists and members of communities for the disabled staged a two-hour dharna at the domestic airport in the Capital on Thursday, protesting Jet Lite airlines’ decision against letting cerebral palsy patient Rajiv Rajan board a flight on grounds of being unfit and not in possession of a fitness certificate.

Despite letters to the CEO of Jet Lite, Gary Kingshott, and the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Disabled Rights Group received no reply, leading to a two-hour demonstration of nearly 200 activists.

Social activists Vandana Bed, Kamaljeet Singh and Asha Mehra also took part in the demonstration. Some protesters even threw black paint on Spice Jet and Jet Lite airlines’ windows.

“At 5 pm, some staff of the Jet Lite airlines offered a written statement, stating regret and tendering an apology to Rajiv Rajan for the treatment he received. The company admitted that it was at fault and stated the event occurred due to untrained staff,” said Javed Abidi, a prominent social activist present at the dharna.

Gary Kingshott, however, refuted such claims. “We regret the incident, but there is no reason for us to apologise to anyone,” said Kingshott. Jet Lite stuck to their stand that they had followed the norms set by the Internation Air Transport Association manual.
by:www.hindustantimes.com

Rights blow to elderly in private care

housands of people who use hospital or school services contracted out by local authorities are without the protection of human rights laws, after a landmark ruling yesterday.

In a split 3-2 decision, the law lords ruled that private care homes contracted out to care for elderly people for a local authority are outside the scope of the Human Rights Act.

The judgment could affect up to 300,000 residents in England and Wales and also a range of other services contracted out to private bodies, such as intermediate treatment centres or foundation schools.

The law lords rejected the view that a private home is exercising a public function when it cares for people referred to it by a council. As a result, they said, it was not bound by the Human Rights Act and its residents could not claim protections under it.The ruling came in the case of an 83-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, whose lawyers argued that her threatened eviction from a private home would violate her right to family life.

Six months ago the Court of Appeal said that it was bound by previous rulings that a private care home could not be classified as a public body and was not covered by the Act.

The patient, identified only as YL, has lived at the home since January last year, when she was placed there by her local authority, Birmingham City Council.

The home, which cannot be named for legal reasons, is run by Southern Cross Healthcare, which wants to remove the woman because of disagreements with her relatives.

Liberty, the human rights group, which was represented in the case, said that the law lords’ reasoning “seems to have been largely that private care providers are motivated by profit and governed by contract rather than public service values”. Its lawyer, Anna Fair-clough, said: “It is open to Parliament to be the last court of human rights and enact specific care home legislation to prevent local authorities from contracting out of dignity for Britain’s elderly.”

Gordon Lishman, director-general of Age Concern, said: “This is a catastrophe for the 300,000 vulnerable older people who live in independent care homes.”

The Alzheimer’s Society said: “All care home residents should be protected by the Act. This is a basic entitlement, which should not be compromised by the type of home they live in or the source of funding. We urgently need legislation to close this glaring loophole.”
by:business.timesonline.co.uk

Asbestos suit by former BHS teacher settled for $3.8 million

BLOOMINGTON — A former Bloomington High School teacher who died in March received about $3.8 million in settlements from an asbestos lawsuit filed last year, according to documents filed in McLean County Circuit Court.

Daniel Malcolm and his wife, Nancy, agreed to settle claims against several defendants, including Pneumo Abex Corp, a manufacturer of asbestos.

Malcolm was a Bloomington High School teacher from 1968 to July 1994 and worked at a foundry at Caterpillar’s East Peoria plant from June to August 1964.

The complaint filed in May 2006 states that Malcolm was exposed to asbestos at the school and foundry assignments. That same year, Malcolm was diagnosed with mesotheloima, a disorder commonly linked to exposure to asbestos.

The settlement agreements allocate a portion of the funds to Malcolm’s wife, who has been obligated for her husband’s medical expenses, said court documents.
by:www.pantagraph.com

Former UTSW doc files whistleblower suit against med school

A former division chairman at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas is suing the school, alleging he was retaliated against for voicing concerns about residents performing unsupervised procedures on Parkland Hospital patients.

Dr. Larry Gentilello was chairman of the division of burn, trauma and critical care at UT Southwestern and held the C. James Carrico MD Chair in Trauma. Gentilello, in a lawsuit filed last week in a Dallas County District Court, said he was removed from both positions after voicing concerns about what he felt were violations of Medicare and Medicaid rules. The lawsuit was filed under Texas' whistelblower act.
John Walls, assistant vice president for public affairs at UT Southwestern, declined to comment on the allegations because of pending litigation.

According to the lawsuit, Gentilello observed that UT Southwestern trauma residents were performing surgical procedures on patients at Parkland Hospital without the supervision of attending trauma surgeons.

"The patients at Parkland typically consist of indigents and are primarily minorities," according to the suit. "On the other hand, when patients are being treated at Zale Lipshy, attending physicians are present at the time that the patients are treated and during the time that surgical procedures are performed. Of course, the patients at Zale Lipshy are not indigent."

Parkland Hospital declined to comment on pending litigation. The hospital was not named in the suit and is not accused of wrongdoing in the lawsuit.

In March, he received a letter from a UTSW official, Dr. Robert V. Rege, saying he was being stripped of his chair positions. Rege sets the policies regarding presence of attending physicians during surgery and had the power to investigate the allegations, the suit contended.

Gentilello said in the lawsuit that he believes he lost the positions because he reported the "illegal patient care and supervisory" practices he observed.

by:jsjordan@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7106