Category Archives: medical errors

medical errors

My HIMSS will be all about quality and patient safety

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Neil Versel

As regular readers might already know, 2012 was a transformative year in my life, and mostly not in a good way. I ended the year on a high note, taking a character-building six-day, 400-mile bike tour through the mountains, desert … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, education, EMR/EHR, Finance, health information exchange, health it, health reform, Healthcare IT, HIMSS, HIPAA, hospitals, ICD-10, Innovation, interoperability, Meaningful Use, medical errors, medical informatics, mobile, patient safety, personal notes, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Health Wonk Review gets hung up on insurance

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Neil Versel

The last edition of Health Wonk Review prior to the Nov. 6 presidential election falls into the familiar big-media trap of portraying the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, as being only about health insurance and of effectively … Continue reading →

Posted in ARRA, comparative effectiveness, EMR/EHR, Health Wonk Review, Healthcare IT, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, quality, regulations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Medical harm explained, in graphics and Farzad style

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Neil Versel

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—Still think the United States has the “best healthcare in the world?” You clearly haven’t been paying attention. Last month, the Wall Street Journal ran this excellent commentary from Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary about how the … Continue reading →

Posted in health reform, hospitals, medical errors, patient safety, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Podcast: This time, I’m the interviewee

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Neil Versel

In a rare turn of events, I’m the one being asked the questions on a podcast by Sivad Business Solutions, which hosts regular audio discussions on a variety of business topics. I give kind of a high-level view of health … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, EMR/EHR, health reform, interoperability, Meaningful Use, medical errors, mobile, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, podcast, primary care, quality, reimbursement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ACA decision is a beginning, not an end, to health reform

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Neil Versel

I’ve spent a lot of time on social media since Thursday morning debating the meaning of the Supreme Court’s rather stunning decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was stunning in that Chief Justice John Roberts, a … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, ARRA, Barack Obama, CMS, EMR/EHR, health reform, Healthcare IT, HHS, jurisprudence, Legislation, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Health reform is so much more than insurance

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Neil Versel

The headline above shouldn’t surprise regular readers or anyone who knows me. I’ve been saying for a couple of years to anyone who asks me about “Obamacare” or any other aspect of healthcare reform—and many people who haven’t asked—that the … Continue reading →

Posted in ARRA, EMR/EHR, hospitals, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Facebook community for reporting patient harm

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Neil Versel

Kudos to investigative journalism organization ProPublica (yes, some journalists still have integrity today) — and a hat tip to HealthLeaders for bringing it to my attention — for setting up a Facebook community for people to report stories of patient … Continue reading →

Posted in health reform, hospitals, media, medical errors, patient safety, politics, social media | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

NPR examines hospital quality problem

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Neil Versel

I knew my dad was not alone in experiencing poor hospital care. Thousands of people are harmed in hospitals every week. Yet, some politicians and pundits still insist America has the “best healthcare in the world.” Just this morning, NPR … Continue reading →

Posted in health reform, hospitals, media, medical errors, patient safety, quality | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Faxing should be malpractice

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Neil Versel

As you undoubtedly know by now, I am now officially all about patient safety. (Thanks, by the way, for all the support in the wake of my father’s untimely death.) That’s why I was so upset to read a friend’s … Continue reading →

Posted in e-prescribing, health information exchange, health it, Healthcare IT, medical errors, patient safety, quality | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Mark Versel, 1944-2012

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Neil Versel

My father passed away late last Friday night from a most insidious disease called multiple system atrophy (MSA). It’s a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative condition that presents itself with symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease, but it is far more … Continue reading →

Posted in EMR/EHR, Healthcare IT, hospitals, medical errors, obituaries, patient safety, personal notes, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off