News

NPR Story Addresses Patient Safety and Privacy

Dr. Sittig, in an interview with NPR, describes the need for a balance between patient privacy and clinician access to improve patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.

Center member cited

An article in InformationWeek Healthcare describes the importance of sophisticated clinical decision support alert design and evaluation. The article focuses on recently published research by Dr. McCoy.

JAMA Commentary Addresses Patient Safety Initiatives

The July 6 issue of JAMA features a commentary co-authored by Dr. Sittig, which calls for expanded use of electronic health records to address the disquieting number of medical errors in the healthcare system.

Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Course graduates featured in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's annual report

Using the IHI Hospital Inpatient Waste Identification Tool, this team from Memorial Hermann--Texas Medical Center is not only identifying waste, but quantifying it as well.

Fourteen new graduates of the Clinical Safety and Effectiveness program are honored as new members of the Physician Quality and Safety Academy

In partnership with the Medical School, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center developed the Physician Quality and Safety Academy in 2008 to build a core group of physician leaders focused on driving improvements in outcomes.

UT Faculty members Dean Sittig and Cody Arnold participate on Clinical Decision Support Oversight Committee that won the Memorial Hermann President's Quality Breakthrough Award

Center member Dr. Singh quoted in Wall Street Journal article about diagnostic errors

"Patients may think that if something was wrong, my doctor would have told me," says Dr. Singh. "But no news is not necessarily good news, and patients need to be empowered to follow up on their lab results and participate more actively in their care."

Book on safe surgery with chapter by center member Thomas and colleagues "highly commended" by British Medical Association

Thomas EJ, Mazzocco K, Graham S, Petitti D, Fong K, Bonacum D, Brookey J, Lasky R, Sexton B. An Empiric Study of Surgical Team Behaviors, Patient Outcomes, and a Programme Based on its Results. In: Flin R and Mitchell L, eds. Safer Surgery. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2009.

New grant on disclosure of medical errors covered by Health Affairs and HealthLeaders

Eric Thomas, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas (UT) Houston and director of the UT Houston Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety, says now is the time to look at alternative liability reforms.

Center director Dr. Thomas quoted in patient safety article

Teamwork training's record of improving care is spotty so far, said Eric J. Thomas, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. The training usually is too "generic," he said. "They teach very important skills but don't apply them to a particular process of care."

Center member Dr. Hwang quoted in Internet weight loss program article

Can you trust weight-loss advice from the Internet? Generally speaking, yes. That's according to Kevin Hwang, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, who has researched the accuracy of online weight-management resources.

$15 million Awarded to UTHealth for IT Research

As part of the recent $15 million stimulus grant to the University, Drs. Sittig and Thomas will be leading a project exploring "Automated model-based clinical summarization of key patient data"

Dr. Sittig: US Must Take Care With Electronic Medical Records

Electronic medical records are one of the most promising and transformative technologies to be introduced to the field of medicine in the past 50 years, according to Dean Sittig, a medical information researcher at the University of Texas at Houston. But in the rush to implement the technology, the United States needs to take some important precautions.

JAMA paper on tele-ICU featured in NY Times article

"A recent study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston looked at the impact of telemedicine on patients in the intensive care unit. Although the researchers had initially set out to study telemedicine's effect on mortality, complications and the length of stay of patients in five different hospitals, they inadvertently discovered the extent to which clinicians were reluctant to incorporate this technological change."

Dr. Sittig Co-authored American Medical Informatics Association Award Winning Article

Persistent Paper: The Myth of "Going Paperless"

University of Texas Quality Improvement Course Mentioned in NY Times

""Everybody is trying to systemically improve value and quality," says Dr. John Mendelsohn, the president of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which started its course in 2005. "But at Intermountain they have worked out the operational system and the culture to do it." Based on the success of the Anderson program, the University of Texas has required all the other branches of its medical system to start their own courses."

Physician Quality and Safety Academy: 2009 Graduation and UT System Conference and Honors

"The Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Campus is hosting a quality symposium in recognition of the 2009 graduates of the Physician Quality and Safety Leadership Academy."

Center Members Singh, Sittig, and Thomas Publish Paper About Imaging Alerts in the Archives of Internal Medicine

"Part of the appeal of electronic medical records is that they can help doctors keep track of test results and avoid medical errors, but a study released on Monday suggests that doctors sometimes ignore electronic warnings about abnormal test results." See additional coverage in: Healthcare Informatics  

Center Members Sittig and Singh Publish Recommendations for Electronic Health Records in Journal of the American Medical Association

"A new framework of recommendations created by health informatics researchers may help doctors and hospitals prepare for a federal initiative to expand the use of electronic health records."

National Quality Forum Presents Memorial Hermann Healthcare System with 2009 National Quality  Healthcare Award

The National Quality Forum (NQF) honored Houston-based Memorial Hermann Healthcare System with the 2009 NQF National Quality Healthcare Award for providing high-quality healthcare by creating a culture of safety and transparency. NQF Award Program   Modern Healthcare Article   

Dr. Sittig Quoted in BNET: "Let's Limit 'Meaningful Use' of EHRs to What Really Works"

"Clinical Decision Support should go beyond alerts and reminders; it needs to be woven into EHR templates, default values, order sets, and other parts of the program."

Physician Quality and Safety Academy Noted by Dean Colasurdo during Vice-Chancellor Shine's Visit

"Dr. Shine was pleased with the progress of our joint Quality and Safety Academy with Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center, which we plan to expand to include students and house staff."

Dr. Eric Thomas named Chancellor's Health Fellow for Patient Safety

The Chancellor's Health Fellows were established in 2004 through support of the Chancellor's Excellence Endowments to foster faculty collaboration and involvement at UT's six health campuses.

UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety moves into new space for the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences

The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS), a collaboration among The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, celebrated the grand opening of its new 16,721 square-foot offices on the 11th floor of The University of Texas Professional Building April 11.

Dr. Eric Thomas Named to Endowed Professorship

Two new holders of endowed professorships have been named at the Medical School, effective Sept. 1.

First Pediatric Quality Improvement Scholars Named

Debuting in the Department of Pediatrics, these faculty who completed a special course in Quality Improvement and are participating in the Medical School's clinical research curriculum, prepare and conduct real-life applications of quality improvement science.

Dr. Eric Thomas Receives National Patient Safety Award

Recognizing his more than 13 years at the forefront of patient safety, Dr. Eric Thomas, associate professor of internal medicine, has received the 2007 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Research.