Clarity Group, Inc. Partners with Future Healthcare to Release Podcast on the Federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act
Industry professionals take part in podcast released by Clarity Group Inc., partnered with Future Healthcare, on the Federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) July 1, 2009
Clarity Group Inc., a leading provider of healthcare risk, quality and patient safety software and consulting services, has recently partnered with Future Healthcare to release a Podcast and Article on Patient Safety and the recent emergence of Patient Safety Organizations in Future Healthcare's quarterly periodical.
Since January, 2009, when the Final Rule of the Patient Safety Act became effective, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has listed Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) on their website. PSOs are designed to receive data collected by healthcare providers for the purposes of enhancing patient safety and improving healthcare quality. Data collected for these purposes and for reporting to a PSO are considered Patient Safety Work Product and are afforded federal confidentiality and protection from discovery under the Act. The Patient Safety Act has enabled PSOs to become a new avenue on a national basis for achieving the learning and change needed to enhance the safety of the American Healthcare System.
The Podcast, which was released in May of 2009, includes a panel of experts in the healthcare Industry including Timothy Rice, President and CEO of Moses Cone Health System, James Palermo, MD, Chief Quality Officer of Health First Inc. and Ellen Flynn, Executive Director of Clarity PSO. The panel discusses why, in this economic downturn, healthcare organizations should spend their scarce resources to participate in a PSO. "The PSO allows us to share the information much more broadly," states Tim Rice. Dr. Palermo goes on to include "under the protections of the Patient Safety Act and the process provided by PSO, professionals can feel more comfortable that they can honestly and accurately provide vital facts and opinions related to an error." Ellen Flynn adds "providers should consider joining a PSO because it provides healthcare professionals a safe space for healthcare workers to work on improving healthcare quality, patient safety and outcomes without the fear of litigation."
The podcast and articles on Patient Safety can be found at the Future Healthcare Website (http://www. futurehealthcareus. com), and the Clarity Group Website (http://claritygrp. com/news-events/podcasts. htm).
About Clarity PSO
Clarity PSO offers healthcare clients the opportunity to participate in patient safety and quality improvement efforts by offering data analysis of benchmarking, aggregate Root Cause Analysis, FMEA, evidence based recommendation, pro-active risk assessment, education and customized risk-quality-safety-regulatory consulting to healthcare providers. Working with a National Healthcare Advisory Council and skilled clinical informatics staff, Clarity PSO provides a suite of services that enables our healthcare clients to avail themselves of more than 40 years of experience in the areas of modifying processes to enhance healthcare quality and driving change through data analysis. Clarity PSO is federally listed as a Patient Safety Organization with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department of Health and Human Services.
About Clarity Group
Clarity Group, Inc. is a Chicago-based specialist in innovative integrated risk/quality/safety/service systems and consulting products that enable healthcare organizations to execute on their vision for excellence. Core Clarity products include captive insurance company development and operations, risk-quality-safety and professional liability claims management and consulting services and the web-based Healthcare SafetyZone® Portal, a data collection and workflow management tool that engages all staff in collaborative, data driven change to transform the organization into a Healthcare Safety Zone for patients, visitors and staff. Clarity PSO is a Division of Clarity Group, Inc.
For further information about the services of Clarity PSO please visit www. claritygrp. com or contact Ellen Flynn at 773-864-8280.
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