Friday, November 11, 2022, came and went with no big announcement from Health & Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, which means that federal policies affecting telemedicine will remain unchanged for at least 60 more days, or through January 11, 2023. Telemedicine is also affected by state regulations, but the relaxation of federal rules on hospitals […]
As the impact of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent in March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services waived existing restrictions on telemedicine services. That expansion of coverage created an opportunity to study changes in usage patterns before and after services suddenly became available to a large population. Authors of one such study published […]
This interview was first published February 17, 2022, in Patient Safety Beat, where it includes a brief video. Patient Safety Beat is the digital newsletter of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety. Tejal Gandhi, M.D., M.P.H., has been a leader in patient and workforce safety for more than 20 years. With experience as an internist, researcher, teacher and hospital executive, Dr. […]
On a snowy January morning, Luis Portillo stood in line on the side of a busy road in Silver Spring, Maryland — a suburb just north of Washington, D.C. — with about 200 other people, waiting for his turn to get tested for covid-19 at Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center. Portillo, a 65-year-old […]
Health care organizations have struggled to craft effective visitation or “family presence” policies since the first days of the pandemic, when most barred nearly all visitors. That was understandable at the time. Now, two years later, family presence is often still restricted, especially when hospitals are stretched beyond capacity. In a recent essay, Tejal Gandhi, […]
The news reports are telling us lately that people are calling 911 when its not an emergency and tying up the emergency response teams who are needed for “real” emergencies. But what is an emergency? Don’t assume people know this. It is part of the disconnect between patient care and patient safety. In 2010 I […]
It’s clear that many healthcare workers are feeling worn out, burned out, anxious and even angry. There is good reporting about the problem, which includes a critical shortage of nurses, and some organizations offer programs designed to help address the symptoms. But in the short term, there is very little that can be done to […]
Editor’s note: The relevance of superficial, temporary, random social connections to patient engagement may at first seem like a stretch. But all it took was a glance at the title and subtitle to trigger memories of visiting my father in assisted living, rehab and memory care communities. Taking the time and care to exchange greetings […]
Editor’s note: This update on the current state of visitation restrictions in Massachusetts was first published May 26, 2021, in Patient Safety Beat, digital newsletter of the Betsy Lehman Center. Health care facilities in Massachusetts are beginning to ease a series of unprecedented visitation restrictions in place since early 2020. They are now taking stock […]
The latest issue of the Patient Experience Journal, with 21 articles by authors from around the world, is now available online. PXJ is a peer-reviewed, open-access digital journal published in association with The Beryl Institute. The current issue includes two articles about the effect of restrictive “no visit” policies used by hospitals and other care […]