ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 12, 2024--
Efforts to protect U.S. hospital patients’ safety, require transparent disclosure of medical errors, and empower hospital staff to confidentially report safety concerns are taking a giant step forward this fall.
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A new U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulation being published on August 28 and taking effect on October 1 will require hospital leaders to attest to whether they are taking several steps to promote accountability and transparency around medical errors, which are the third leading cause of death for Americans after heart disease and cancer.
The regulation specifically endorses the Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) program as a way for hospitals to commit to being honest and open with patients and their families about medical errors, why they happened, and what steps the hospital will take to prevent them from recurring.
An alternative to the once-common response to medical errors known as “deny and defend,” CANDOR has been shown by severalstudies to reduce malpractice claims and the duration and expense of litigation.
“Early evidence shows the value of CANDOR programs to increase confidence in hospital leadership and improve healthcare worker job satisfaction,” said Thomas A. Mroz, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Georgia State University. “These benefits may reduce turnover of hospital workers, including nurses, physicians, and hospital leaders.’’
Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and Utah have all adopted laws to make it easier for hospitals to use CANDOR. Georgia’s Legislature came within one procedural vote of enacting a Georgia CANDOR law before the 2024 session expired. CANDOR-type policies are also sometimes referred to as communication-and-resolution programs (CRP).
The new CMS regulation, available online at https://federalregister.gov/d/2024-17021, states that “accountability for outcomes, as well as transparency around safety events and performance, represent the cornerstones of a culture of safety. For hospital leaders, clinical and non-clinical staff, patients, and families to learn from safety events and prevent harm, there must exist a culture that promotes event reporting without fear or hesitation, and safety data collection and analysis with the free flow of information.’’
As a condition of participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), starting Oct. 1 U.S. hospitals must attest whether they:
Failing to implement these programs can lead to lower quality ratings of hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) programs for U.S. hospitals designed to protect patient safety, require transparent disclosure of medical errors, and empower hospital staff to report safety concerns have won a major endorsement from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. A new rule taking effect Oct. 1 will require hospitals to attest to whether they are taking several steps to promote and report patient safety, including implementation of CANDOR. PHOTO CREDIT: COD Newsroom
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union announced Tuesday that it has chosen its leader, Friedrich Merz, to be its candidate for chancellor in next year's national election.
The decision sets the stage for a possible challenge of left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the federal election scheduled for September 2025.
Germans are looking ahead to next year's vote at a critical time, as the country's struggles to integrate large numbers of refugees and migrants and as the major European economy weakens. Recent extremist attacks have fueled a backlash against migration that is leading to a surge in support for the far right.
The choice was announced at a news conference in Berlin with Merz and Markus Soeder, the leader of the CDU's smaller Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union, who had also been a contender for the role.
Soeder, who is the governor of Bavaria, announced the decision, saying that the chancellor question “is decided. Friedrich Merz is doing it.” He stressed that he fully supported Merz, and that they were united by a common goal to unseat the current government “and get Germany back on track.”
Merz thanked Soeder for his support and said his party, led for many years by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, has the “firm intention of taking over leadership responsibility in this country again.”
An unpopular three-party coalition led by Scholz has governed since 2021.
The coalition, which is made up of Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, suffered losses in elections to the European Parliament earlier this year and in recent German state elections in Thuringia and Saxony.
The 68-year-old Merz was considered the favorite after Soeder failed to get the backing for his candidacy, according to German media reports, and after another contender, North Rhine Westphalia’s state Premier Hendrik Wuest, announced he wouldn’t run.
Currently polls show the Christian Democrats as the strongest party in the country. But Merz himself is not personally very popular. Scholz said during a visit to Kazakhstan that he would welcome a Merz candidacy, the German news agency dpa reported.
Scholz has said he would like to run for chancellor again but his candidacy hasn’t been confirmed by his party.
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, and Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, shake hands at a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, talks to the media beside Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, right, at a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria is pictured at a joint news conference with German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, and Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, leave a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz watches the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
