openFDA – More than 3 million adverse drug event reports at your fingertips.

openFDA

 

 

 

From the Web site

OpenFDA offers easy access to FDA public data and highlight projects using these data in both the public and private sector to further regulatory or scientific missions, educate the public, and save lives.

What does it do?

OpenFDA provides API and raw download access to a number of high-value structured datasets. The platform is currently in public beta with one featured dataset, FDA’s publically available drug adverse event reports.

In the future, openFDA will provide a platform for public challenges issued by the FDA and a place for the community to interact with each other and FDA domain experts with the goal of spurring innovation around FDA data.

We’re currently focused on working on datasets in the following areas:

• Adverse Events: FDA’s publically available drug adverse event reports, a database that contains millions of adverse event and medication error reports submitted to FDA covering all regulated drugs.
• Recalls (coming soon): Enforcement Report and Product Recalls Data, containing information gathered from public notices about certain recalls of FDA-regulated products
• Documentation (coming soon): Structured Product Labeling Data, containing detailed product label information on many FDA-regulated product

We’ll be releasing a number of updates and additional datasets throughout the upcoming months.

 

 

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Doing the right thing when things go wrong

English: PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 10, 2007) – Lt. Cmdr. Angela Powell, an otolaryngologist assisted by Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Daniel Vogel a surgical technician, performs surgery aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20). Comfort is on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries. U.S. Navy photo by Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jean A. Wertman (RELEASED) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

From the 14 December 2012 EurkAlert article

 

…UMHS approach to medical errors and malpractice suits could be used by hospitals nationwide, new study indicates

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Health System doesn’t claim to be perfect. But its response to medical errors, near-misses, unexpected clinical problems and unintended outcomes is a model for the nation that other hospitals can and should copy, according to a new paper in a prestigious health care journal.

The “Michigan Model” for handling these situations, and preventing them from happening again, has not only helped patients and medical staff alike – it has also helped UMHS go against the grain of the costly, combative “deny and defend” medical malpractice culture…

…Campbell and Boothman have led a decade-long effort to implement and measure the results of the Michigan Model. It’s based on these key principles:

 

• Compensate patients quickly and fairly when inappropriate care causes injury
• Support clinical staff when the care was reasonable
• Reduce patient injuries (and claims) by learning from patients’ experiences

In that decade, new malpractice claims per month have dropped, total liability costs have dropped, claims and potential claims are being resolved faster, and UMHS is increasingly avoiding litigation in both claims without merit and claims with merit.

 

Related articles

• Schwartz Offers “A Dose of Reality for Medical Malpractice Reform” in New Article (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
• Georgia Eyes No-Fault Plan for Medical Malpractice (insurancejournal.com)
• AnyLawsuits.com Now Offers Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Loans for Plaintiffs Awaiting Settlement (prleap.com)
• Virginia dentist faces millions in medical malpractice lawsuits (myfox8.com)
• Doing the right thing when things go wrong (medicalxpress.com)

 

Protecting patients from medical apology programs

Protecting patients from medical apology programs

by GABRIEL H. TENINBAUM in the 20 November edition of KevidMD.com

To deal with the aftermath of medical errors, an increasing number of providers are encouraging injured patients to participate in “medical apology programs.” The idea, proponents say, is for patients to meet with facility representatives to learn what happened and why.  It gives the patient a chance to ask questions and it gives providers a chance to apologize, and as appropriate, offer compensation.  These programs are promoted as humanitarian, and, at least in terms of providing an emotional outlet for patients, they are.

 

The evidence also suggests that they are about something else: money.  Every aspect of how they operate – from who risk managers involve, to what those involved are told to say – suggests a key goal is to dissuade patients from seeking compensation by creating an emotional connection with them. …

Related articles

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• Patient Safety Must Be Improved (medicalnewstoday.com)
• In Touch With Patients (1 Letter) (nytimes.com)
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• Health IT May Be Cause Of Patient Errors (baravaida.wordpress.com)
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Government agency working to empower patients and others to improve health care quality

The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is working to empower us through an ad campaign and online materials.

The ad campaign Questions are the Answers includes public service announcements (the videos may  be viewed here)

The Questions are the Answers campaign also features these Web pages

• Reducing Medical Mistakes with questions to ask your health care provider, how to prevent medical errors, and more
• Talking with Your Clinician with tips on how to give and get information, get quality care and more
• Planning for Surgery with questions to ask and tips
• Getting a Prescription with tips on keeping track of meds, how to take medicine safely, and more
• Links to Additional Patient Safety Resources

Related articles

• Your Health Priorities Tool (AHRQ) (jflahiff.wordpress.com)
• I’m happy that patients use the internet  (ScienceRoll)
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• Question Authority (centerforhealthmediapolicy.com)

E-health Records Should Play Bigger Role In Patient Safety Initiatives, Researchers Advocate

http://diseasemanagementcareblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/more-on-electronic-health-record.html

From the 20th July Medical News Today article

Patient safety researchers are calling for the expanded use of electronic health records (EHRs) to address the disquieting number of medical errors in the healthcare system that can lead to readmissions and even death. Their commentary is in the July 6 issue of JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Leading healthcare organizations are using electronic health records to address patient safety issues,” said Dean Sittig, Ph.D., co-author and professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Biomedical Informatics. “But, the use of EHRs to address patient safety issues hasn’t hit the mainstream yet and we think everyone should be doing this.”

One way to fast-track the use of EHRs to address patient safety issues would be to incorporate the annual patient safety goals of The Joint Commission, a healthcare accreditation organization, into the criteria for the certification of EHRs, said co-author Ryan Radecki, M.D., who is scheduled to join the UTHealth faculty Aug. 1….

Click here to read the rest of the news article

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• More On Electronic Health Record Prescribing Errors (diseasemanagementcareblog.blogspot.com)