New ECRI Institute Resources Help Physician Practices Assess And Address Patient Safety And Risk

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 20 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, announces a suite of new resources specifically developed to help physician practices assess and address quality, risk management, and patient safety issues. ECRI Institute is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.

The suite of services, many of which include CME opportunities, provides:

-- Web-based and on-site assessment services
-- Ongoing guidance in a bi-weekly e-newsletter
-- Comprehensive guide with sample forms, tools, and checklists
-- Online CME education courses

ECRI Institute's INsight™ Assessment service helps physician practices identify strengths and weaknesses in their patient safety and risk management processes and procedures using a Web-based or on-site survey approach. The confidential survey probes several topic areas including: communication, documentation, medication safety, equipment safety, incident response, and many others. Physicians, nurses, medical assistants, office managers, receptionists, nurse practitioners, and others respond to the survey. Physicians can earn CME credit for their participation. On-site assessments of physician offices ascertain high risk areas and systems needing improvement and are customized to an individual client's needs.

Insurance carriers and healthcare systems can seamlessly provide ongoing safety guidance for their physician practices with ECRI Institute's E-News. Physician Practice E-News, delivered bi-weekly, includes links to articles and research findings plus up-to-date information to help physician practices reduce and assess risk.

Physician Office Fundamentals in Risk Management and Patient Safety, a new resource guide, scheduled for publication in May 2008, includes 200 pages of guidance that will help physician practices develop strategies to control risks and improve patient safety. The essential handbook also includes CME opportunities and a CD-ROM with more than 50 tools, such as sample policies, algorithms, risk assessment forms, and educational posters.

According to Robert Pendrak, M.D., risk management consultant, "Physician Office Fundamentals in Risk Management and Patient Safety is a welcome addition to ECRI Institute's suite of services for physician practices. It offers feasible solutions for ambulatory care."

Look out for ECRI Institute's new Web-based continuing education membership to be available later this year. Course offerings will include an entire selection of topics specific to physician practice risk management and patient safety, and physicians can earn CME credit.

For more information about these resources or a demonstration, visit www.ecri.org/PhysicianPractice, contact Sharon Murphy by phone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5145; by e-mail at smurphy@ecri.org; by mail at ECRI, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA; or by fax at (610) 834-1275.

ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this science for nearly 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute is also responsible for performing the technical work of developing and maintaining AHRQ's National Guideline Clearinghouse™ and the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™.

http://www.ecri.org