Database offers national overview of hospital violation reports

Stateline reports that information about hospital errors dating back to January 2011 will be available to the public on a new website. Meanwhile, a report by the Robert Wood Johnson draws parallels between the nation's most unhealth counties and those that have the highest rates of preventable hospital stays.

Stateline: New Database Reveals Thousands Of Hospital Violation Reports
Hospitals make mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes. A patient may get the wrong medication or even undergo surgery intended for another person. When errors like these are reported, state and federal officials inspect the hospital in question and file a detailed report. Now, for the first time, this vital information on the quality and safety of the nation's hospitals has been made available to the public online. A new website, www.hospitalinspections.org, includes detailed reports of hospital violations dating back to January 2011, searchable by city, state, name of the hospital and key word (Vestal, 3/19).

Modern Healthcare: Unhealthiest Counties Lead In Preventable Hospital Stays
The unhealthiest counties in the nation have the highest rates of preventable hospital stays, smoking and adult obesity, according to the 2013 County Health Rankings, a joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The healthiest counties, meanwhile, had higher numbers of primary-care doctors. The least-healthy counties experienced 82.8 preventable hospital stays per 1,000 Medicare enrollees, while in the healthiest counties the rate was 57.2 per 1,000. The rest of the nation's counties experienced 74 preventable hospital stays per 1,000 Medicare enrollees. The report's authors also found that 24% of adults smoke in the least-healthy counties, compared with 16% in the healthiest and 21% in the other counties (Barr, 3/20).