Standard Register Introduces New Patient Identification Product

Standard Register, a recognized leader in managing critical information and communications for healthcare, announced the introduction of InterimID™, a stand-alone solution for producing patient ID bands and labels with both barcodes and patient demographics during system or network downtime.

“As healthcare organizations increasingly rely on automated workflows, network and HIS downtimes pose serious challenges for patient registration and care,” said JP Parmley, director of patient identification programs for Standard Register Healthcare. “Hospitals need a ‘plan B’ that assures both patients and documentation are properly identified and barcoded, so care can proceed with a measure of accuracy and confidence.”

Standard Register’s InterimID is a stand-alone solution that resides on the desktop where it is readily accessible to staff when the health information system (HIS) or network goes down. Configured to enterprise and departmental needs, the simple interface allows the registrar or clinician to efficiently enter patient information. The application provides a unique barcode for positive identification of the patient and clinical documents, and easy reconciliation with the medical record once the system is back online.

“Our goal was to provide a simple, cost-effective solution that would allow hospitals to manage registration in a disciplined way and mitigate some of the problems associated with manual processes downstream,” said Parmley. “Barcoding adds that discipline and provides support to vital automated processes, such as medication administration.”

Standard Register Healthcare also provides downtime applications through SMARTworks® Clinical Enterprise, a technology platform that manages both automated and manual workflows for patient registration, identification, care and discharge.

Adverse Events Launches New Website

Published on www.psqh.com

AdverseEvents, Inc. (AEI) Co-founder and President, Brian Overstreet, announced the launch of the AdverseEvents website—a first-of-its-kind online resource that delivers accurate, real-time information on adverse drug events. Users will now have the ability to quantify and fully understand the scope of patient safety issues based on accurate rates of side effects by using AEI’s easy-to-use, fully searchable database. AEI’s proprietary data set has applications for both healthcare professionals and patients.

There has been limited access to reliable drug side effect information. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) is the only current database of adverse event information but it is inaccessible, incomplete, filled with misspellings and misclassifications, and often out-of-date. Patients have been left to rely solely on drug labels, which can list hundreds of potential side effects with no insight into the real-world incidence or outcome rates. This lack of information has left patients and healthcare professionals confused, and often misinformed about real-world drug safety risks.

To solve this major healthcare challenge, AEI has developed RxFilter™, a proprietary 17-step data refinement process that standardizes and normalizes the FDA’s AERS into an accessible, comparative database of all FDA approved medications. It is the only resource that utilizes the RxFilter process to combine all the varied designations for a medication found in AERS into a single report, and standardizes the AERS data for improved accuracy of adverse drug event information. This dramatically improves the search and alert functionality for side effect information, data analysis and outcomes data, and provides the only comparison views of a drug and its side effects. AEI’s data will increase transparency throughout the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

to read the full article please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

AHE Announces New Partnership with Kimberly Clark Professional

The Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE), of the American Hospital Association (AHA),  announced a partnership with Kimberly-Clark Professional to launch “The Heart of Healthcare”: a new, educational campaign designed to recognize and elevate the critical role that healthcare environmental services (ES) departments play in supporting patient safety initiatives and reducing healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates.

“The Heart of Healthcare” campaign will elevate these pivotal contributions to patient safety through print and online advertising that spotlight the ways in which ES professionals help to improve patient outcomes. The campaign will encourage and support peer-to-peer learning, provide advice from experts in the field and offer support and tools for those new to the field.

“We are proud to salute our members and all ES professionals with this well-deserved recognition. It honors the important contribution they make to enhance care safety and their commitment to patients and residents,” said Patti Costello, executive director, AHE. “We appreciative that Kimberly-Clark Professional is partnering with us to recognize ES professionals with the “The Heart of Healthcare” award. This is an exciting time and we are pleased that the important role of ES professionals is being recognized.”

“The Heart of Healthcare” award will recognize outstanding ES professionals who are on the frontlines making a difference for patients and residents. A panel of AHE members will select one first place winner and three “outstanding” honorable mentions. The first place winner will receive a one-year complimentary AHE membership, a framed certificate of recognition, an engraved, crystal award and the opportunity to be featured in a “Heart of Healthcare” advertisement.

“Kimberly-Clark Professional is excited to partner with AHE on this campaign to recognize the highly meaningful, yet often less publicly visible impact that ES professionals have on patient safety and the quality of healthcare,” said Laura Ball, marketing manager, healthcare, Kimberly-Clark Professional. “We have always recognized that ES professionals are on the frontlines continually making a difference in the lives and safety of patients and residents.”

For more information on the campaign, and how to nominate an ES professional for “The Heart of Healthcare” award, please visit ahe.org.

About AHE

AHE (ahe.org) represents, defines, and advances the professionals responsible for care of the patient environment to ensure quality patient outcomes and healthy communities. A professional membership group of the American Hospital Association, AHE serves more than 2,400 members. AHE provides education, networking and recognition for personal and professional achievements as well as collaboration with the AHA on public policy and advocacy issues related to the healthcare environment.

About Kimberly-Clark Professional

Kimberly-Clark Professional (kcprofessional.com) is dedicated to providing essential solutions for a healthier, safer and more productive workplace. These include a unique portfolio of innovative, cost-effective and sustainable offerings for office buildings and lodging properties, healthcare facilities, manufacturing environments, laboratories and cleanrooms, educational facilities, food preparation and processing operations, and home professionals. Kimberly-Clark Professional offers a comprehensive array of hand hygiene and contamination control solutions to break the germ transmission chain and help create a healthier workplace as well as wiping and safety solutions that minimize risk and drive productivity. Its trusted global brands include Kleenex, Scott, Jackson Safety, Wypall and Kimtech. Located in Roswell, Ga., Kimberly-Clark Professional is one of Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s four business sectors.

AHRG Releases Guide to Unintended Consequences of Electronic Health Records

AHRQ has released the Guide to Reducing Unintended Consequences of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The Guide addresses problems that may occur during implementation and ongoing use of EHRs. Prepared for AHRQ by the RAND Corporation, the Guide is based on research and interviews with organizations that have recently implemented EHRs. The authors include Spencer S. Jones, Ross Koppel, M. Susan Ridgely, Ted E. Palen, Shinyi Wu, and Michael I. Harrison. The guide is available for free download from AHRQ.

For more information on Patient Safety and Electronic Health Records please visit www.psqh.com

ISMP Promotes Use of Story Telling to Improve Patient Safety

In the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices  promotes the use of true stories to improve patient safety by drawing attention to medication errors and inspiring and sustaining cultural change."Telling true stories is an ISMP Hallmark; Here's why you should tell stories, too…" describes the power of stories, reviews legal and public disclosure concerns, and offers advice for crafting and sharing stories effectively.
The ISMP Medication Safety Alert! is available on ISMP's website.

For more information on patient safety success stories please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

Standard Register and Poken Launch Touch-Enabled Products and Services for Healthcare

pokenHEALTH will transform events and build stronger connections for healthcare organizations.

Standard Register, a recognized leader in managing critical information and communications for healthcare, and Poken, a Swiss-based technology company, announced today they have joined forces to launch a new product and service platform, pokenHEALTH™, which Standard Register will market exclusively to healthcare in North America.

“This exclusive relationship brings together Poken’s market leadership in real-world, social media with our healthcare expertise to offer clients an unprecedented way to transform events, build stronger connections with their stakeholders and truly differentiate their brand,” said Scott Wallace vice president of strategic development for Standard Register Healthcare, a business unit of Standard Register that serves 62 percent of U.S. hospitals.

“Together, we have the opportunity to transform events and help hospitals create connections with people that are fun and memorable,” said Stéphane Doutriaux, founder & CEO of Poken. “Our platform caters to these needs, while providing a secure and confidential platform for continued interaction.”

pokenHEALTH provides healthcare marketers with a leading-edge suite of interactive, touch-based marketing tools to manage community and professional events. Using Swiss watch-industry microelectronic knowledge, pokenHEALTH runs on a unique, near-field communication (NFC)-enabled ecosystem of Poken devices, smart phone apps and tags that allow meeting participants to interact with each other and the sponsor. Users can collect and share contact information, event materials and other resources. Data is wirelessly and instantly sent from one device to the other based on the proximity of their keychain devices or smart phones.

To read the full article please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

Standard Register To Launch Celebrate Healthcare Program

Standard Register will unveil its innovative Celebrate Health program at the Society of Healthcare Strategy and Marketing Development's (SHSMD) 2011 Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona September 14-17. Designed to help hospital marketers save time and elevate their effectiveness in promoting national healthcare observances, Celebrate Health provides ready-to-use kits of marketing materials – posters, brochures, mailers and promotional items – that can be easily branded and produced in a matter of days.

There are more than 275 national healthcare observances that raise awareness for specific health topics and recognize the healthcare professionals that contribute to the quality of care. Observances give hospitals the opportunity to showcase their services and people through related health fairs and events.

"Today's hospital marketers are being asked to play a broader, more strategic role in advancing relationships with patients, physicians, staff, benefactors and the community. Yet, rarely is there sufficient time or money to support their efforts. They're expected to do more with less," said Tom Gutman, director of marketing solutions for Standard Register Healthcare, a business unit of Standard Register.

"Celebrate Health gives them a cost-effective, turn-key solution that simplifies planning for key observances. It shortcuts the design and production processes providing professional marketing materials within days instead of weeks or months," he explained.

Robert F Higgins Elected to Advanced Practice Strategies Board of Drectors

Advanced Practice Strategies a provider of continuing medical education solutions for risk management and patient safety, today announced that Robert F. Higgins, founding partner of Highland Capital Partners and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, has been elected to APS' Board of Directors.

"Bob has a remarkable track record working with early-stage healthcare companies," said Dennis Ferrill, chief executive officer of APS. "His expertise in the healthcare industry will enable him to make significant contributions to the APS board. I look forward to working with him as APS undergoes a period of rapid growth and expansion as we advance outdated continuing medical education practices and dramatically improve patient safety."

"APS represents an outstanding opportunity to expand the knowledge base of our nation's medical professionals," said Higgins. "Medical error is a massive and growing problem. APS is building the next generation of learning tools for physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. I look forward to working with the Dennis and the team to improve the performance of clinical professionals and enhance patient outcomes."

For more information on patient safety and risk management please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

RF Surgical Systems Closed 12 Million Dollar Financing

RF Surgical Systems, Inc., announced the closing of a $12 million round of fundraising led by new investor Split Rock Partners, a venture capital firm focused on emerging healthcare, software and Internet services companies. Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Stanford University and two of the company founders also participated in the round.

“This new infusion of financing will help drive our continued growth by enabling us to scale operations and continue to evolve to meet the needs of our customers in providing the utmost in patient safety.”
Since the release of the RF Assure Detection System in November 2010, the company has added more than 70 new hospitals and surgical centers to its extensive customer base. Because of the rapid acceptance of the technology in the market place, RF Surgical will use this funding to drive customer growth and product innovation. The company will focus on several strategic initiatives to accelerate market capture including the expansion of the company’s sales and field support team. This funding will also allow the company to intensify key R&D programs such as the development of a market-leading solution to tag surgical instruments and other patient safety-related products.

“We are thrilled with the growing number of new hospital systems, across the country, deploying RF Surgical’s Detection System to mitigate the highly preventable medical error of RSI,” said Dr. Jeffrey Port, co-founder and chairman of RF Surgical. “This new infusion of financing will help drive our continued growth by enabling us to scale operations and continue to evolve to meet the needs of our customers in providing the utmost in patient safety.”

Minnesota Hospitals Win Patient Safety Awards

Twelve Hospitals Win Patient Safety Awards

Twelve Minnesota hospitals each won a Minnesota Hospital Association Patient Safety Excellence Award this month.

The initiative recognizes organizations' efforts to prevent pressure ulcers, (under the association's SAFE SKIN campaign); falls (under the SAFE from FALLS program); wrong-site surgical or other invasive procedures (under the SAFE SITE program); and foreign objects unintentionally left behind following surgery (under the SAFE ACCOUNT campaign) and during labor and delivery (under the SAFE COUNT initiative).

Awards are bestowed quarterly in the program that is more than three years old. Most Minnesota hospitals have already won some, if not all, of the five types of awards available. Hospitals must re-qualify for awards each round.

The association's safety campaigns are based on national and state best practices. They also incorporate lessons learned from hospitals that experienced adverse health events.

Awardees must implement at least 90 percent of each campaign's required measures. One such measure, for instance, requires hospitals to reposition immobile patients every two hours if such patients are at risk for developing pressure ulcers.

To learn more, visit MHA's Web site at www.mnhospitals.org.

To learn more about hospital patient safety programs please visit www.psqh.com.

WellPoint and IBM use Watson Technology for Healthcare Analytics Applications

WellPoint, Inc. and IBM announced that they are working together on the first commercial applications of the IBM Watson technology. WellPoint will develop and launch Watson-based solutions to help improve patient care through the delivery of up-to-date, evidence-based health care for millions of Americans. IBM will develop the base Watson healthcare technology on which WellPoint's solution will run.


Watson is a computing system built by a team of IBM scientists who set out to accomplish a grand challenge - build a computing system that rivals a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. Earlier this year, Watson competed and won against two of the most celebrated players ever to appear on Jeopardy! Watson's ability to analyze the meaning and context of human language, and quickly process vast amounts of information to suggest options targeted to a patient's circumstances, can assist decision makers, such as physicians and nurses, in identifying the most likely diagnosis and treatment options for their patients.

In recent years, few areas have advanced as rapidly as health care. For physicians, incorporating hundreds of thousands of articles into practice and applying them to patient care is a significant challenge. Watson can sift through an equivalent of about 1 million books or roughly 200 million pages of data, and analyze this information and provide precise responses in less than three seconds. Using this extraordinary capability WellPoint is expected to enable Watson to allow physicians to easily coordinate medical data programmed into Watson with specified patient factors, to help identify the most likely diagnosis and treatment options in complex cases. Watson is expected to serve as a powerful tool in the physician's decision making process.


"There are breathtaking advances in medical science and clinical knowledge, however; this clinical information is not always used in the care of patients. Imagine having the ability to take in all the information around a patient's medical care -- symptoms, findings, patient interviews and diagnostic studies. Then, imagine using Watson analytic capabilities to consider all of the prior cases, the state-of-the-art clinical knowledge in the medical literature and clinical best practices to help a physician advance a diagnosis and guide a course of treatment," said Sam Nussbaum, M.D., WellPoint's Chief Medical Officer. "We believe this will be an invaluable resource for our partnering physicians and will dramatically enhance the quality and effectiveness of medical care they deliver to our members."

Watson may help physicians identify treatment options that balance the interactions of various drugs and narrow among a large group of treatment choices, enabling physicians to quickly select the more effective treatment plans for their patients. It is also expected to streamline communication between a patient's physician and their health plan, helping to improve efficiency in clinical review of complex cases. It could even be used to direct patients to the physician in their area with the best success in treating a particular illness.
"With medical information doubling every five years and health care costs increasing, Watson has tremendous potential for applications that improve the efficiency of care and reduce wait times for diagnosis and treatment by enabling clinicians with access to the best clinical data the moment they need it," said Manoj Saxena, general manager, Watson Solutions, IBM Software Group. "WellPoint's commitment to innovation and their work to improve how care is delivered and benefits administered make them an ideal partner for IBM's software and services to pioneer new efficiencies in health care."

Depending on the progress of the development efforts, WellPoint anticipates employing Watson technology in early 2012, working with select physician groups in clinical pilots.
"The implications for health care are extraordinary," said Lori Beer, WellPoint's executive vice president of Enterprise Business Services. "As one of the nation's largest health insurers, we have an important role to play in helping to improve health care quality. We believe new solutions built on the IBM Watson technology will be valuable for our provider partners, and more importantly, give us new tools to help ensure our members are receiving the best possible care."

Healthcare Spending Higher for Hospital Employees

Healthcare spending is 10 percent higher for hospital employees than it is for the general employee population, according to a study by the healthcare business of Thomson Reuters. The gap is wider when employees' dependents are factored in. The cost of healthcare for hospital workers and family members covered by their health insurance is 13 percent higher than average.

In addition to using more healthcare services, hospital employees and their dependents also were found to be less healthy. They had an 8.6 percent greater illness burden than the U.S. workforce at large and were more likely to be diagnosed with chronic medical conditions including asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, HIV, hypertension and mental illness.
The research also found that hospital workers and their families had fewer physician office visits, yet were 22 percent more likely to visit the emergency room.

"Ideally, the healthcare workforce would be a model for healthy behaviors and the appropriate use of medical resources," said Raymond Fabius, MD, chief medical officer for the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters. "Unfortunately, our data suggests that the opposite is true today. Hospitals that tackle this issue can strengthen their business performance and community service."

To read the full article please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

Patient Safety Checklists Help Michigan Hospitals ROI

Published on American Medical News Website

Michigan hospitals that implemented checklists to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections in their intensive care units saw an average tenfold return on their investment in patient safety, said a study published in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21856956).

Each catheter-related bloodstream infection costs a Michigan hospital $36,500 to treat, on average, but implementing the checklist program costs only about $3,375 per infection avoided. More than 100 Michigan ICUs were able to cut bloodstream infections by an average of two-thirds, with many hospitals eliminating the infections entirely. On average, each hospital saved about $1.1 million a year by implementing the patient safety program, the study said. The patient safety "bundle" now being spread to hospitals nationwide costs each hospital an average of $161,000 to put into place, mostly for staff time.

For more information on reducing Hospital Acquired Infections please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare 

Apollo Data Technologies Health Changes Name to Metodcare, Inc.

Apollo Data Technologies Health, Inc. announces today that the company has changed its name to MethodCare, Inc. MethodCare provides hospital predictive analytics software for the revenue cycle using proven data mining technology to identify greater revenue, savings, and staff performance. MethodCare's real-time advanced analytics arm hospital administrators with the critical intelligence to make strategic, data-driven business decisions and proactive improvements to address the growing demands of financial and regulatory pressures. 

"The name MethodCare better personifies our mission--to provide hospitals with a new method of leveraging their data to increase financial health and quality of patient care," said Jeff Kaplan, chief executive officer, MethodCare. "We look forward to our rapid expansion and continuing to provide our valued customers with the latest data mining and analytics to help them operate more efficiently and profitably." 

MethodCare's suite of software includes, AR Management, CDM Management, Charge Recovery, Contract Management, Credit Balance Automation, Denial Management, Patient Safety, and Payment Validation. Hospitals and health systems across the U.S., such as Northwestern Memorial Hospital, have realized significant savings from MethodCare's software. 

10 Things to Know about Retained Surgical Sponges

By Jim Sweeney
Senior VP of Sales & Marketing
ClearCount Medical Solutions

published on Becker's ASC Review


Retained surgical sponges are one of the oldest surgical complications documented in clinical literature and remain today an enduring risk to operating room facilities, personnel and the public they serve. Today there is hope that with the addition of new technology, the incidence of retained sponges can be dramatically reduced or even eliminated. Here are 10 things you should know about this persistent problem.

1. Retained surgical items (RSIs) are the most frequent and most costly surgical "never event," according to data from CMS.[1] In Oct. 2008, Medicare implemented policy to no longer reimburse hospitals for consequential surgical procedures and charges associated with this hospital-acquired error. Most private insurers subsequently followed this reimbursement policy.

2. In 2010, RSIs became the #1 sentinel event reported in the United States among all adverse events that can lead to patient injury.[2] Sentinel events are defined and tracked by The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals as a condition of licensure and the receipt of Medicaid reimbursement.


3. Surgical sponges represent over two-thirds of all RSIs due to their prevalence and function in surgery, and are typically regarded as the most dangerous retained item due to complications of serious infection and adherence to critical tissue and organ structures. It is also estimated that each retained surgical sponge incident costs providers more than $250,000 per incident.[3]

4. According to a New England Journal of Medicine article, approximately one in every 1,500 chest or abdominal surgeries results in a sponge or other item being accidentally left inside the patient.[4] Estimates of annual incidence translate to 40-60 cases of retained incidents per week throughout the United States.


5. The underlying cause of RSIs is predominantly due to falsely reconciled sponge counts. In 88 percent of the cases where a retained item is discovered, retrospective review of the surgical record indicates the surgical staff believed they had accounted for all items used in the surgical case.[5]

to read the full article please visit Becker's ASC Review

To read about Patient Safety programs and case studies please visit www.psqh.com

Mass. Governor Patrick Touts MetroWest Medical Center Use of EarlySense

Technology aimed at alerting doctors when the condition of their patients deteriorates is at the center of MetroWest Medical Center’s new patient safety and quality care initiative, which Gov. Deval Patrick will help tout this afternoon in Framingham.

The hospital initiative, using technology developed by EarlySense Ltd., will be the focus of a product demonstration, followed by a symposium on advances in patient safety at acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities. Organizers say there have been 50 cases documented in the past year in which alerts provided by the EarlySense system helped nurses and doctors save the lives of their patients. EarlySense recently announced its decision to locate its headquarters in Massachusetts.

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1413012551/Patrick-in-Framingham-to-tout-life-saving-patient-alert-technology#ixzz1XCmcSvF3

Excela Health Selects RF Surgical to Reduce Retained Surgical Errors

RF Assure Detection System Helps Hospitals Improve Patient Safety

By Bob Stiles
Pittsburgh Tribune Review

By waving an instrument that resembles a big soap bubble wand, Excela Health medical staff can tell if a sponge has been mistakenly left inside a patient during surgery. They began using the RF Assure Detection System in its three hospitals in Westmoreland County and the Norwin Medical Commons.

The surgical team either passes the wand over the patient or places a mat under the patient to locate a forgotten sponge. The instruments activate microchips -- the size of a pea -- that have been inserted into the sponges. A beep or sustained tone sounds if the devices detect a sponge. "We're the first health system in the area to use it," said Jesse Hixson, Excela perioperative nurse manager. The process takes about six seconds, and the sponges add a $15 cost to a surgery, Hixson said.


A left-behind sponge, which looks like gauze, can cause discomfort, infection or even death.
"We're trying to do things for patient safety," said Dr. Marc Costa, chairman of Excela's department of surgery. "We want to make sure leaving behind a sponge doesn't happen."
Sponges are used in surgery when a cavity is opened, such as a chest or abdomen. Typically, surgeons will use about 15 sponges; the number jumps to 100 during an open-heart operation, Hixson said.

A sponge is left behind once in every 1,500 cases, according to RF Surgical Systems Inc., the Bellevue, Wash., company that makes the detection system. Some studies put the number at one in 5,000 cases.Before an operation, a circulatory nurse and a scrub technician count sponges and medical instruments, and the count is repeated when the surgery is finished, Costa said.

According to RF Surgical, its system is used in hospitals in Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, among others. There is no cost for the devices but hospitals must purchase the special sponges from the company. The detection instruments are used at different times during the operation, and records of the checks are kept on file."(The detection system) is used to supplement our count, not replace the counting process," Hixson said. "There's no excuse for (sponge errors) to happen."

"And we don't want it to happen," said Marci Cook, Excela vice president of perioperative service.

Read more: Excela Health takes high-tech step forward in patient safety - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_755222.html#ixzz1XBMawT8k

New Report Indicates Hospitals With More Procedures Have Better Patient Safety

Hospitals with larger volumes of procedures have better patient safety. A new study in the journal Health Services Research found that hospital volume is inversely related to preventable adverse events."That means that the more procedures these hospitals were performing, the lower rates they would have of adverse events," said lead author Tina Hernandez-Boussard in a Health Behavior News Service article.

Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine examined the rates of nine different adverse events in hospitalized patients after three surgical procedures. In almost every case, hospitals with higher surgical volume--more than 28 procedures per year for abdominal aortic aneurysm, more than 245 for heart bypass surgery, and more than 89 for gastric bypass surgery--had fewer adverse events than hospitals with low volumes of surgery.
The findings suggest that hospitals below a certain surgical volume shouldn't be doing the procedure, Dr. David Bates, executive director of the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice and chief of general internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, told Health Behavior News.

Read more: More hospital procedures mean better patient safety - FierceHealthcare http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/more-procedures-mean-better-safety/2011-09-01#ixzz1Wnj2Bbc6