Preventable Medical Error Is Still A Huge Problem

How Does Your Organization Compare To The Hospitals Around You?

Ashbec can also produce low-cost competitive analysis reports for hospitals that show how these ratings change over time. Reports can be produced for all hospitals in a given system and/or the top hospitals in a given area. It is also possible to compare one health system against one or more other health systems. For a more detailed explanation of the calculations and measurements used in the hospital rating, see Ashbec Hospital Patient Safety Ranking System in the research and analysis section. Ashbec can also help hospitals that wish to custom design their own analysis of the Hospital Compare measurements. For more information, please contact Vaughn Frick.

Consulting Services

Ashbec can provide consulting services in support of hospitals that wish to improve their performance, capacity and competitive position. We provide expertise in continuous process improvement and lean methods applied to the treatment delivery process. In general these services are driven by the concepts behind Treatment Optimization for Patient Safety (TOPS) which is fully described in the research section. For more information, please contact Vaughn Frick.

Research and Analysis

As described above, Ashbec LLC can provide customized analysis reports related to the Ashbec Hospital Patient Safety Ranking and the underlying CMS / Hospital Compare data. In addition, Ashbec LLC can provide research and analysis services to hospital clients on any topic of their choice related to patient safety or hospital operations. This website also offers free research papers pertaining to effective management practices and patient safety. Most of this research has been created by Ashbec LLC but we will also provide links to pertinent research from outside sources with their permission. To see a complete list of the currently available research, click here.

Preventing Medical Error

It has been well-publicized that the 1999 Institute of Medicine report estimated that an American dies as a result of preventable medical error as frequently as once every five minutes. It is also understood that enormous sums of money are spent repairing the damage done by preventable medical error. It is Ashbec's position that solving these two problems will not only save lives and reduce injuries, it will have a major impact on the uncompetitive cost-benefit ratio healthcare places on every business that hires Americans (see below). We have the opportunity to change a competitive disadvantage into an advantage for the entire American economy.

US healthcare performance

Treatment Optimization for Patient Safety (TOPS)

TOPS provides a conceptual framework for a patented treatment management system including a mechanism for controlling and continually improving detailed treatment protocols. The unique and innovative approach uses tools, methods and techniques drawn from a number of other industries. These include business process reengineering, lean manufacturing and continuous process improvement. Before any systematic approach to improving a process can be undertaken, that process must be in a form that is standardized, repeatable and therefore predictable. The treatment delivery processes used in hospitals today typically do not have these characteristics.

TOPS can accommodate the variations needed to treat individual patients while still applying the methods and techniques that will allow the continual improvement of treatment delivery and the virtual elimination of preventable medical error. For this process to work, the technology must have access to treatment regimens far more detailed than the typical treatment protocol. Ashbec provides consulting services that will allow hospitals to effectively implement this approach to virtually eliminate preventable medical error. Hospitals that license US Patent Number 7,765,114 from Ashbec LLC may be able to use commercially available software packages and implementation services to achieve these goals. For more information, please contact Vaughn Frick.