PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA-ECRI Institute® (www.ecri.org), an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, announces the completion of over 500 INsight™ Assessments of physician practices. Since May 2006, ECRI has collected 279,230 responses from 3,268 staff in 575 physician practices.

The physician practice setting represents the most utilized segment of healthcare. By identifying high risk areas within a practice-and as compared to the national average-practices can make changes that will improve patient care.

The survey responses revealed that practices typically score well in clinical and medical care areas; however, they require improvement in areas often considered administrative by physicians. Breakdowns in these areas increase the risk of:

* Allegations of fraudulent billing
* Improper handling of emergencies
* Medical malpractice claims due to unrealistic patient expectations
* Drug interactions
* Falls
* Misunderstandings due to limited English proficiency
* Unnecessary hospitalizations

ECRI Institute's INsight™ Assessment Service uses a confidential, Web-based survey tool to help physician practices identify strengths and weaknesses in their patient safety and risk management processes and procedures.

The Physician Practice survey probes crucial topic areas including: communication, documentation, medication safety, equipment safety, incident response, and others. Results are compared to ECRI Institute's extensive INsight database. All questions are supported by an evidence-base of standards and best practices to encourage learning throughout the process. Physicians, nurses, medical assistants, office managers, receptionists, nurse practitioners, and other staff members complete the survey.

INsight proactive assessments provide organizations with the evidence and benchmarking data from the assessment survey to provide critical credibility when asking physicians to change. With more healthcare services moving to the outpatient setting every day, physician practices need to be included in the patient safety efforts of the entire healthcare community.

INsight surveys are also available for the following service lines: Anesthesia Risk, Bariatric Surgery, Behavioral Health, Continuing Care Services, Emergency Departments, Falls Prevention, Medication Safety, Obstetric Care, Patient Safety Culture, Quality Systems, Radiology Risk, and Surgical Safety.

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