In his blog on the WBUR.org website, Ashish Jha says too often patient safety takes a backseat to marketing efforts. Jha cites a story in The New York Times, describes how hospitals are investing tens, sometimes hundreds, of millions of dollars upgrading their amenities and asks "How did we end up with a system where hospitals make big investments in nail salons and flat screen TVs but little on making care safer?"
Simple, he says It’s the sensible thing for hospitals to do. As businesses, hospitals have to meet payroll, maintain facilities, and attract top talent. Investing in patient safety is not a financial winner. People have called on hospitals to "do the right thing" and invest in patient safety, but understanding why hospitals behave the way they do, and what we can do to change their behavior, would be far more effective.
Currently, improving patient safety requires real investments of time, effort, and money with little payoff. Yes, some patient safety interventions are cheap but others are expensive Investing in these efforts save lives, but they can also reduce revenue. Asking hospitals to engage in efforts that increase cost, reduce revenue, and ultimately hurt their bottom is a pretty hard sell, Jha says.
Read the blog.
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