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What is the future of the patient safety movement? Since the 1999 landmark IOM report To Err is Human, health care organizations, accrediting bodies and the government have all jumped on the Safety Bandwagon. Many initiatives have come forth since that time, including advances in healthcare information technology, teamwork training and increased reporting of outcomes, to name a few. However, Dr. Robert Wachter, a leader in healthcare safety recently sounded the alarm that the safety movement is entering a dangerous period. The first concern is burnout, as clinicians have been forced to add extra burdens to an already overwhelming workload due to all the new initiatives in the last 10 years. The second concern is the effect of the Affordable Care Act on hospital administrators. As reimbursement scenarios are hazy at best and frightening at worst, hospital administrators must focus on cutting costs, which can have unintended negative consequences on patient safety.
Safely Speaking, MUSC's daily safety tip, is a production of the Patient Safety Department. After our March introduction by Dr. Cawley, these tips will be coming from Danielle Scheurer, our Chief Quality Officer from now on. We welcome any feedback at patientsafety@musc.edu
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