BiotechMashup

(Yale University) Hospitals, health insurers and patients often rely on patient death rates in hospitals to compare hospital quality. Now a new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine questions the accuracy of that widely used approach and supports measuring patient deaths over a period of 30 days from admission even after they have left the hospital.

Hospitals, health insurers and patients often rely on patient death rates in hospitals to compare hospital quality. Now a new study questions the accuracy of that widely used approach and supports measuring patient deaths over a period of 30 days from admission even after they have left the hospital.

(Duke University Medical Center) While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to research from the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.

While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to researchers.

(University of Michigan Health System) A new University of Michigan Health System and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System study shows a no-payment rule may not be enough to encourage hospitals to combat hospital-acquired infections. Prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections lags behind practices to prevent other hospital-acquired infections, but there are actions patients can take to stay safe.

A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin (C. diff) infection (CDI). A molecular method detects up to 50 percent more cases of C. diff than other methods. While molecular technology is more expensive, it allows for more cases to be identified and assists in patient safety efforts within the hospital in terms of preventing hospital-acquired C. diff infections.

Inpatient mortality rates, used by organizations to issue "report cards" on the quality of individual US hospitals, are a poor gauge of how well hospitals actually perform and should be abandoned in favor of measures that more accurately assess patient harms and the care being provided, argue patient safety experts in a new paper.

(Lifespan) A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin (C. diff) infection (CDI). A molecular method detects up to 50 percent more cases of C. diff than other methods. While molecular technology is more expensive, it allows for more cases to be identified and assists in patient safety efforts within the hospital in terms of preventing hospital-acquired C. diff infections.

(University Hospitals Case Medical Center) University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio is among 65 hospitals nationwide to be designated as a "Top Hospital" and leader in quality patient care by the Leapfrog Group.