Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1169964
90 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 5 most common sentinel events so far in 2019 By Mackenzie Bean I ncidents involving retained for- eign objects were the most com- mon sentinel event in the first half of 2019, according to data The Joint Commission released Aug. 14. The Joint Commission defines a sen- tinel event as a patient safety event that results in death, permanent harm, severe temporary harm or interven- tion required to sustain life. The latest data includes several new sentinel event categories, including anesthe- sia-related events, criminal events and environmental events. The Joint Commission reviewed 436 reports of sentinel events in the first six months of the year, 83 percent of which wre voluntarily reported to the accrediting body. Here are the five most frequently reported sentinel events for the first half of 2019: 1. Unintended retention of a foreign body — 60 reported events 2. Wrong-site surgery — 29 3. Fall — 25 4. Suicide (inpatient) — 21 5. Suicide (off-site) — 21 n Hospitals that report more measures have lower star ratings, study finds By Gabrielle Masson C MS' Overall Star Ratings meth- odology does not account for differences in the type and vol- ume of quality measures hospitals share with the agency, which may offer an inaccurate analysis of quality per- formance, according to a study pub- lished in Health Affairs. CMS requires hospitals to have a min- imum number of patient cases to re- port data for a star ratings measure. As a result, hospitals that treat a larger volume and mix of cases often report more measures than hospitals treat- ing a smaller patient pool. Despite this variation, CMS rates all hospitals on the same one to five star scale, regardless of the type or number of measures reported. For the study, researchers analyzed data on 3,692 hospitals from the De- cember 2017 star ratings update. Re- searchers sorted hospitals into three groups based on similarities with the type and volume of measures report- ed. Group one reported an average of 43 measures, group two reported 36 measures and group three reported just 22 measures. Researchers found hospitals in the third group often had higher star rat- ings, while hospitals in the first group had lower scores. "Patients, referring providers, payers and other stakeholders who use the ratings in their decision-making can be misled if they assume that high- er hospital quality is correlated with a higher star rating," the researchers said. They warned against lumping hospitals together for the analysis and instead suggested CMS assess hospi- tals in groups based on how they re- port on the quality measures. n 1 in 7 internal medicine residents experience bullying By Emily Rappleye N early 14 percent of internal medicine residents reported experiencing bullying by someone in a senior position during their training program in 2016, according to a study published in JAMA. e study is based on results of a survey included at the end of the Internal Medicine In-Training Examination, a self-assessment for residents administered by the American College of Physicians. Of the 21,212 survey responses used in the analysis, 13.6 percent reported experiencing bullying. e survey defined bullying as "harassment that occurs re- peatedly (> once) by an individual in a position of greater power." Here are six more findings: • Verbal harassment was the most common form of bullying. • Of those who reported experiencing bullying, 31 percent sought help. • Bullying increased burnout for 57 percent of respondents. • Bullying reduced resident performance for 39 percent of respondents. • Bullying increased depression for 27 percent of respondents. • Residents who were non-native English speakers, international medical graduates, or scored lower on the exam were more likely to report being bullied. e authors note that bullying may, in fact, be much more common than the study suggests because it does not account for "less consequential harassment" or harassment by peers. n