Journal for healthcare quality : official publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality
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Analyze the effectiveness of mandated point-of-care (POC) blood glucose (BG) meter quality control (QC) testing. All POC BG QC tests were analyzed to evaluate operator and strip/meter error rates and institutional cost. POC BG QC test failure (17/103,580 over 24 months) was low and no meters failed subsequent linearity testing. ⋯ POC BG meter failure within current guidelines is rare and does not justify the cost of daily QC testing. Frequent QC testing can identify operators needing retraining in POC testing. Strip/meter QC errors are common, are not prevented by current QC testing standards, and may contribute to clinical errors.
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Study on defensive medicine practices among obstetricians and gynecologists who provide breast care.
The purpose of this study was to assess malpractice concerns, career satisfaction, defensive medicine, experience with liability lawsuits, and changes in breast care practices among obstetricians and gynecologists (ob-gyns) who provide breast care. Four hundred ACOG Fellows were randomly selected and invited to participate, 247 (62%) responded. A majority of responders had increased the number of referrals for the diagnosis of breast abnormalities (58.9%) and treatment of breast disease (53.6%) due to fears and concerns regarding malpractice. ⋯ In a regression analysis, having been sued was a significant predictor of practicing defensive medicine more often. Physicians from states with malpractice crisis reported practicing defensive medicine more frequently and more lawsuits than physicians from stable states. Malpractice fears and defensive medicine continue to affect the practices of ob-gyns, most specifically, as this study shows, ob-gyns who provide breast care.