|
|
|
An opinion piece by a Harvard professor suggests that patient safety often takes a back seat to marketing in US hospitals. Ashish Jha, MD points out that hospitals are making significant investments improving their environments in an attempt to attract more patients and improve HCAHPs scores. A New York Times article describes the amenities of some hospitals, which make them seem more like hotels, with round-the-clock room service, stylish furniture, and even nail salons. Financially, this approach does make sense. As current reimbursement from both governmental and private insurers are only beginning to be affected by "never events" (such as wrong-site surgery), expensive safety efforts with unclear impacts on the bottom line are tough sells for some hospital boards.
Read more |
