Patient Safety news and information

A scientific panel that shaped the government's policy for testing the safety and effectiveness of painkillers was funded by major pharmaceutical firms seeking to affect the thinking of the FDA.
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Many healthcare providers and payers are moving forward with patient-centered medical homes to improve primary care and care coordination and reduce costs, despite mixed research evidence of the cost-effectiveness of this major delivery system reform.
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The Defense Department's on-again, off-again flirtation with the Veterans Affairs Department's VistA electronic health-record system appears to be on again. But this time, a lot of other suitors will compete for the military's affection and what likely will be billions of taxpayers' dollars.
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A scheduled House committee hearing on the Food and Drug Administration's progress toward implementing a federal law requiring it to develop a regulatory strategy for health information technology was postponed Thursday, as the government shutdown continued into its third day.
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In May, actress Angelina Jolie stunned the world when she revealed that she'd undergone a preventive double mastectomy after genetic testing showed she was at a high risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer. Since her disclosure, there has been a marked increase in genetic testing at treatment...
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Diagnostic errors produce the vast majority of medical malpractice suits related to primary-care practice, and it's harder to successfully defend such cases than other types of malpractice suits, according to a report in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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A biotech drug from Roche has become the first medicine approved to treat breast cancer before surgery, offering an earlier approach against one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
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At the sixth International Conference on Diagnostic Error in Medicine on Wednesday, Dr. Robert Wachter gave a quick history of patient safety and quality improvement but noted that activity to reduce diagnostic errors was noticeably absent from the movement's timeline.
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The FDA would have greater oversight over large-volume compounding pharmacies like the company that triggered a deadly meningitis outbreak, under federal legislation winning bipartisan support.
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When patients check into a hospital, they expect doctors there to fix what ails them, but 1 in 20 contract a healthcare-based infection. The problem is not a new one, top health officials say, but as more patients receive minor surgeries and care at clinics and doctor's offices instead of pricier...
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