May issue of The ACCME Report now available

The News section includes:

• ACCME Releases March Board Of Directors Meeting Executive Summary, Updated Provider Lists
• Program & Activity Reporting System Exhibition Phase Closes May 21
• ACCME Supports Maintenance of Licensure Initiative
• 2010 AHME/AODME Educational Institute Features CME Programming

Click here to access the May issue.

Beyond frustration

Interesting study published in the April 26, 2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine entitled "Association of Interruptions With an Increased Risk and Severity of Medication Administration Errors".  From the abstract:

Each interruption was associated with a 12.1% increase in procedural failures and a 12.7% increase in clinical errors. The association between interruptions and clinical errors was independent of hospital and nurse characteristics. Interruptions occurred in 53.1% of administrations (95% confidence interval [CI], 51.6%-54.6%).

Click here to access the abstract.

Bad Ad?

The FDA just launched the Truthful Prescription Drug Advertising and Promotion (Bad Ad Program).  From the Reuters online article:

U.S. health officials are encouraging physicians to report misleading promotions from pharmaceutical salespeople who pitch medicines in doctors' offices or over dinner.
The effort announced on Tuesday aims to increase regulators' reach into the largest area of prescription drug promotion -- the private contacts between drug company salespeople and prescribers.
...
Starting this month, FDA staff will set up booths at major medical conferences to tell doctors how to spot questionable pitches. The agency also is sending a letter to about 33,000 healthcare providers about the campaign, dubbed the Bad Ad Program.

Apparently the idea for this campaign came from two former drug pitchmen.  Click here to access the Reuters article.  Click here to access the FDA news release.

EHR bar code technology decreases medication errors

From the iHealthBeat.com article:

For the study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital compared the administration of medications before and after bar codes were added to the hospital's electronic health record system (Reinberg, HealthDay/Businessweek, 5/5).
The researchers found that after bar code technology was added to EHRs, patients were:

• 57% less likely to receive the wrong drug;
• 42% less likely to receive the wrong dose;
• 61% less likely to receive a drug when none had been prescribed; and
• 27% less likely to receive a drug at the wrong time.

Click here to access the iHealthBeat.com article.  Click here to access the NEJM article on this study.

Suntelligence

From the American Academy of Dermatology:

At first glance, Hartford, Salt Lake City and Denver might not seem to have much in common. But a new survey by the American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) found these three cities outshine other U.S. cities in heeding dermatologists' advice on preventing and detecting skin cancer.

The “Suntelligence: How Sun Smart is Your City?” online survey polled more than 7,000 adults nationwide to determine their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors toward tanning, sun protection and skin cancer detection. Twenty-six cities were ranked based on respondents’ answers to several questions in each category.

 Click here to read more on this important topic.

U.S. physicians on the defensive?

Interesting data from the latest on the series of national physician surveys conducted by Jackson Healthcare on the impact of defensive medicine; some key findings:

• 76 percent of respondents reported that defensive medicine decreases patients’ access to healthcare.
• 72 percent of respondents reported that the practice of defensive medicine negatively impacts patient care.
• 71 percent of respondents reported that defensive medicine has had a negative effect on the way they view patients.
• 67 percent of respondents reported that defensive medicine comes between the doctor and patient.
• 57 percent of respondents reported that defensive medicine hampers their decisionmaking ability. 
• Patients most likely affected by defensive medicine are 1) those requiring surgery, 2) women and 3) those visiting emergency rooms.
• Defensive medicine is now being taught as standard medical practice. The survey found that 87 percent of current residents and fellows reported being taught to avoid lawsuits, compared with 48 percent of total respondents.

Click here to access add'l information on this survey as well as other surveys conducted by Jackson Healthcare.