5 Stories You Need: Proposed Legislation for HealthIT, Rec’s for C. diff Prevention

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. ONC Details Plan to Improve Data Standards, Big Data Analytics
   Link to a recent blog post co-written by ONC’s Karen Desalvo and Lisa Lewis outlining proposed legislation regarding health information exchange and interoperability. One key component is the elimination of health information blocking, which currently prevents providers from seeing the full scope of a patient’s record. HealthITAnalytics
2. Confronting a Crisis: An Open Letter to America’s Physicians on the Opioid Epidemic
   Steven J. Stack, M.D., president of the American Medical Association, calls on physicians to take 7 steps toward reversing the nation’s opioid epidemic – immediately.   Arkansas Medical Society
3. Involve facilities professionals in patient safety efforts, expert says
   National Patient Safety Foundation President and CEO Tejal Gandhi, M.D., talks about  the significance of the perspective that nonclinical staff can bring to patient safety discussions. FierceHealthcare
4. How to Meet the Challenge of C. diff
   Learn more about the tools and strategies hospitals are using to adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for preventing Clostridium difficile infections. IHI Improvement Blog
5. Seven Years Ago and a Week: A Patient Safety Story
   Laura Townsend, the founder of the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, shares how her family came to turn a preventable tragedy into an “all in” commitment to forwarding the patient safety movement. Lean Blog