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NEWS
FROM CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE
For Immediate Release January 9, 2006
CAMBRIDGE
HEALTH ALLIANCE PHYSICIAN RECEIVES GRANT TO STUDY PATIENT DISCHARGE
PROCESS
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Dr.
Richard Balaban, to lead patient discharge study under
CRICO/RMF grant.
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Cambridge,
Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA….
Dr. Richard Balaban, medical director of Cambridge Health Alliance's
Somerville Primary Care, and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical
School, has been awarded a grant to study and improve the way patients
are discharged from the hospital. The study, Redefining and Redesigning
Hospital Discharge to Enhance Patient Safety, will be launched at
Somerville Hospital, and will initially include about 100 patients.
"Recent
studies have shown that half of discharged patients don't understand
their discharge plans. The potential for problems is increasing
because hospitals are sending patients home earlier in their recovery,
which means they have more complex responsibilities to deal with
on their own," said Dr. Balaban
With
shorter hospitalizations, the post-discharge period is vital to
a patient's full recovery. Dr. Balaban is proposing an intervention
that will effectively transfer a patient's care to the outpatient
provider and enable patients and families to capably address medical
issues in the post-discharge period. By redefining hospital discharge
as an inpatient to outpatient transfer - a discharge-transfer -
the process can be redesigned to enhance patient care and safety.
Sixty-five
physicians, residents, and nurses applied for individual grants
of $50,000 from CRICO/RMF, the medical malpractice insurer for the
Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. Ten researchers in eight
Harvard teaching hospitals received grants including Dr. Balaban.
Additional studies that received CRICO/RMF funding include: research
on patient perceptions of physician communication, patient safety
observations from parents of pediatric patients, and a content analysis
of patient complaints.
CRICO/RMF
CRICO/RMF is the patient safety and medical malpractice insurance
company owned by and serving the Harvard medical community since
1976. That community includes nearly 10,000 physicians, 18 hospitals
and 227 other health care organizations. CRICO/RMF www.rmf.harvard.edu
applies learning from more than 25 years of claims-based data analysis
to assist these physicians and medical institutions in their goal
of providing the safest health care possible. CRICO/RMF proactively
convenes, directs and funds patient safety improvement projects
and initiatives that benefit providers and patients worldwide.
Please
visit www.rmf.harvard.edu/patientsafety/research.asp
for more information on the CRICO/RMF patient safety grants.
CAMBRIDGE
HEALTH ALLIANCE
Cambridge Health Alliance is a regional healthcare system with three
hospitals and more than twenty primary care practices in Cambridge,
Somerville, and Boston's metro-North communities. As a teaching
affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance offers
medical residency/training programs and undergraduate learning experiences
in hospital and community settings. Cambridge Health Alliance also
includes the Cambridge Public Health Department, CHA Physicians
Organization (CHAPO), and Network Health, a managed Medicaid plan.
See
also ARCHIVES
of Press Releases
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Media
Contacts
Alison
Harris
Director Media Relations
Phone: 617-499-8323
Cell: 781-424-3293
Pager: 617-546-8696
aharris@challiance.org
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