Leah Klusch

Pressure ulcers and falls are among the National Quality Forum Board’s 29 serious reportable events addressed in its 2011 report.

The NQF’s “Serious Reportable Events in Healthcare – 2011 Update: A Consensus Report” includes four additional events beyond those addressed in its 2006 report. Each SRE was evaluated and applied to each of four specific healthcare settings. These include nursing facilities, hospitals, outpatient or office-based surgery centers and ambulatory practice settings. New events include preventable errors, like wrong-site surgery, stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired post-admission, patient falls, or serious medication errors. More than half of the states use the NQF-endorsed list of SREs in their public reporting programs.

In March, the NQF came out in support of 21 measures to be used in care for both long-term nursing home residents and short-stay patients.

SREs are among the topics that will be discussed in today’ “Quality care in challenging times” webinar, which begins at 1:00 p.m. EDT as a McKnight’s Online Expo Super Tuesday event. Click here to register for the event. All attendees are eligible for one free continuing education credit.

McKnight’s editors will be talking to presenter Leah Klusch, the founder and executive director of the Alliance Training Center, about quality improvement efforts such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Home Compare website and the Quality Improvement Survey.

Participants also will have access to the McKnight’s Online Expo and its 24 vendor booths. Attendees can also make personal contact with company reps and enter prize giveaways.