'Accountability' is the new buzzword: Craven & Ober policy strategists, LLC.

摘要

A merica's hospitals are entrenched in healthcare iWkreform and in taking steps to improve patient safety while reducing and controlling costs in responsible ways. Recent public and private policies prohibiting reimbursement for preventable hospital-acquired infections, such as central catheter-associated bloodstream infections, have driven new quality-assurance practices. It has been 10 years since the Institute of Medicine's groundbreaking To Err Is Human report, calling for a "no-blame" model for improving patient-safety. Some experts believe that the model has not done enough to improve practices and are calling on hospitals to adopt an accountability approach that enforces penalties when providers fail to adhere to protocols. According to a report coauthored by patient-safety expert Peter Pronovostj providers' embrace of the "no-blame" model has produced positive results by the adoption of computerized physician-order entry systems and checklist protocols that have prevented medication errors and surgical complications, but many have come to realize that the unidimensional focus of creating a blame-free culture carries its own safety risks.