3 Stories You Need: Improved Outcomes for Medicare Patients, Preventing HAIs, Simplifying Med Management

We know you’re busy, but we don’t want you to miss important healthcare quality and patient safety news. Here’s a roundup of stories you may have missed but need to take a look at before calling it a week. (Sign up on the right if you’d like these news alerts delivered to you.)

1. ‘Jaw-dropping’: Medicare deaths, hospitalizations AND costs reduced
   Healthcare providers deserve partial credit for the shocking improvements in the care of older patients according to Harlan Krumholz, MD, lead researcher in a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “The things we’re trying to do to make things better are working,” Krumholz said.
2. How your hospital can make you sick
   According to Consumer Reports, some hospitals significantly outperform others when it comes to preventing deadly healthcare-associated infections. Find out which facilities the magazine says are doing the best job of protecting their patients from germs like Clostridium difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and which ones are not.
3. Preventing Readmissions Through Improved Medication Management
   Poor medication adherence is a major problem in today’s healthcare system leading to costly complications and return hospitals visits and in many cases unnecessary loss of life. Access the American College of Preventative Medicine’s S-I-M-P-L-E strategies for making sure patients take their medications as directed.