Embracing Smart AI designed by healthcare quality insiders to solve quality problems is the best way forward to bend the quality curve. The Stalled Progress in Preventing Harm For more than two decades, American healthcare has struggled with preventing harm in hospitals. Since the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report To Err is Human (1999), we’ve seen numerous quality improvement initiatives. Hospitals have invested in safety protocols, reporting systems, performance meas

Small hospitals are often the heart of their communities. They provide essential care, frequently with fewer resources, tighter budgets, smaller staff, and less slack for error. Yet, they are expected to deliver the same standard of care as large tertiary centers. The tension is real: limited resources, growing regulatory and safety demands, rising costs, and zero tolerance for serious mistakes. In this blog, we’ll explore why quality assurance (QA) , can fundamentally improv

The ROI on investing in quality to prevent harm is well established but the stakes have grown. Hospitals and health systems face a simple truth: safer, higher-quality care ultimately saves money and reduces legal liability. Preventable patient harm costs billions each year, both in human suffering and economic loss. Yet, studies show that investing in quality improvement almost always yields a positive return. As Dr. Adam Schaffer of CRICO (Harvard’s malpractice insurer) obse

“Anesthetic safety begins long before the first drug flows—it starts with a thoughtful, systematic pre‑procedure assessment.”– American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Guideline on Preanesthesia Evaluation, 2020 High-risk procedures, whether major surgery under general anesthesia or moderate sedation for endoscopy, carry inherent dangers. These include airway compromise, hemodynamic instability, aspiration, or peri-procedural myocardial infarction. To mitigate these risks,

In today’s complex healthcare environment, patients and families navigate a labyrinth of diagnoses, medications, procedures, and follow-up instructions. Without effective education and training tailored to each patient’s unique needs and abilities, the transition from hospital to home, or any next site of care, can quickly become perilous. The Joint Commission’s Standard PC.02.03.01: “The hospital provides patient education and training based on each patient’s needs and abili

Misunderstandings, incomplete explanations, or failure to confirm patient comprehension can create critical gaps that lead to medical errors, adverse events, and malpractice claims. The Joint Commission’s Standard PC.02.01.21—“The hospital effectively communicates with patients when providing care, treatment, and services”—highlights the necessity of clear, patient‑centered dialogue at every step of the healthcare journey. EvaluCare is a trusted partner to review medical care

As patients live longer with chronic diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer's, behavioral management will likely increase in the coming years. As the US population ages, hospitals are encountering a growing number of older adults presenting with cognitive impairments such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. These conditions can lead to a range of behavioral challenges, from agitation and wandering to aggression and paranoia, that make medical and surgical units particularly vu

In this detailed exploration, we will trace the history of clinical registries, describe the variety of registries available to hospital services, illustrate how registry data uncover system issues (for example, linking acute kidney injury rates back to intraoperative practices), and explain why full engagement is essential for patient safety, academic advancement, and defense against malpractice risk. EvaluCare is a trusted partner to review quality registry data for medical

The structured review process and tools used in support of M&Ms are very similar to the Medical Care Review process that EvaluCare and its team of Quality & Medical Experts offers to patients, families and attorneys when care goes wrong, and medical malpractice is suspected. In the realm of today's quality program, M&Ms serve a critical role in making care safer by uncovering latent issues that may go unnoticed until trends develop and more patients are harmed.

Two critical components of this oversight are Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) and Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE). These structured processes are not only required for regulatory and accreditation standards but also serve as early warning systems for performance issues, reducing medical errors and enhancing patient outcomes. EvaluCare can help patients, families, and attorneys, by reviewing OPPE to illuminate whether a provider’s practice met e

When it comes to your health, or the health of someone you love, the hospital you choose isn’t just a backdrop for care; it’s an active ingredient in your outcome. EvaluCare can perform medical care reviews for patients, families and attorneys to determine if care met acceptable standards, and if not, if care was negligent.

Patients can promote patient safety by working with healthcare organizations' quality and patient and family advocacy programs. Additionally, filing complaints about medical errors or concerns to accrediting bodies like The Joint Commission, will also spur actions to improve patient safety. When it comes to patient safety, no stone should be left unturned to resolve care issues. When patients or their families experience harm or have serious concerns about the quality of care

Structured handoff communication tools like ISBAR and I-PASS improve patient safety by ensuring critical communication takes place as patients transfer between providers, departments and care settings. Patient and their advocates can use the same structure to improve patient safety. In the complex and fast-paced world of healthcare, the transfer of critical information from one provider to another, known as a "handoff," is a pivotal moment that can either safeguard or endange

Healthcare professional completing a checklist next to a patient's bed. In today’s healthcare landscape, the pressure on hospitals to meet regulatory standards is enormous. Accreditation bodies, government regulations, and public reporting metrics shape much of what organizations focus on. Yet a critical distinction must be made: designing a quality processes purely to meet regulatory standards is fundamentally different from designing for best practices and continuous qualit

The reality is that when medical error disclosures are made, it doesn’t mean all information regarding the error is shared. You may be told an error occurred but have no context to the causes and details regarding the level of negligence that may have occurred if any. 

Secondary findings are frequently overlooked, under-communicated, or ignored, a dangerous oversight that can have devastating consequences. When early signs of disease are not addressed because they were "incidental," patients may face delayed diagnoses, limited treatment options, and worsened outcomes that might have been avoided.

This blog explores the expansive and critical role of healthcare quality professionals, their methodologies, the domains they influence, and how their expertise is uniquely positioned to support patients harmed by medical malpractice through organizations like EvaluCare.

When it comes to a treatment relationship between a healthcare provider and a patient implied consent, consent to treat and informed consent are types of consent for care. Each are different, each are important. Informed consent is a critical part of the treatment relationship between a healthcare provider and a patient. Implied Consent Implied Consent is driven primarily driven by a patient’s actions and behaviors. A patient seeks care and calls a doctor’s office for an appo