Latest News On Patient Safety

Latest KFF Health News Stories

User-Friendly Or Error-Ridden? Debate Swirls Around Website Comparing Nursing Homes

KFF Health News Original

State says its new site is easier to navigate, though it remains a work in progress. Advocates for nursing home patients call it “a huge step in the wrong direction” that could endanger people’s lives.

 

A medida que crecen los centros de cirugía, los pacientes están pagando con sus vidas

KFF Health News Original

Hay más de 5,600 centros de cirugía en todo el país, en donde se realizan procedimientos quirúrgicos menores. Pero una investigación reveló que a veces ocurren complicaciones que hubieran sido prevenibles en un hospital.

As Surgery Centers Boom, Patients Are Paying With Their Lives

KFF Health News Original

An investigation by Kaiser Health News and the USA TODAY Network discovers that more than 260 patients have died since 2013 after in-and-out procedures at surgery centers across the country. More than a dozen — some as young as 2 — have perished after routine operations, such as colonoscopies and tonsillectomies.

Hospitals’ Best-Laid Plans Upended By Disaster

KFF Health News Original

An onslaught of fires, shootings and storms across the country last year tested hospital readiness. Now, leaders are using their experiences to address shortcomings that surfaced amid the chaos.

University Under Fire For Off-The-Grid Herpes Vaccine Experiments

KFF Health News Original

Southern Illinois University’s medical school has halted all herpes research, one of its most high-profile projects, amid growing controversy over a researcher’s unauthorized methods offshore and in the U.S.

Judge Orders New Olympus Trial Over Superbug Death

KFF Health News Original

The Seattle jurist finds that Olympus Corp. failed to properly disclose evidence that it knew of concerns about cleaning problems with its redesigned medical scopes years before they hit the market and were linked to dozens of deaths. The company maintains the devices were not defective and intends to appeal.

Infection Lapses Rampant In Nursing Homes But Punishment Is Rare

KFF Health News Original

A Kaiser Health News analysis of federal inspection records shows that nursing home inspectors labeled mistakes in infection control as serious for only 161 of the 12,056 homes they have cited since 2014.

In Era Of Increased Competition, Hospitals Fret Over Ratings

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals are jockeying for patients and view the many different quality and safety ratings as a keen way to distinguish their services. But when those ratings nosedive, a hospital may retaliate.

Whistleblower: Medicaid Managed-Care Firm Improperly Denied Care To Thousands

KFF Health News Original

An explosive report prepared by a SynerMed executive alleges the California firm, which oversaw care for 1.2 million patients, fabricated documents and violated state and federal regulations for years. The state says it left low-income patients on Medicaid managed care in “imminent danger.”