Madigan shortcomings cited in Pentagon review of patient safety

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/10/01/3409222/pentagon-health-review-cites-madigan.html?sp=/99/296/331/354/



Madigan Army Medical Center is shown in this handout photo from July 11, 2014.

Madigan shortcomings cited in Pentagon review of patient safety
By Adam Ashton
Staff writer
October 1, 2014 Updated 10 hours ago

Madigan Army Medical Center is falling short of several national medical standards for patient safety and must take steps to improve on those measures, according to a Pentagon review of the nation’s military health system released Wednesday.

The report, ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in May, concludes that the military’s 56 hospitals around the world generally meet or exceed civilian health care standards, but the network is marked by wide performance variability.

Overall, it’s an average system known for outstanding combat care near the battlefield but a mixed performance at home, DOD officials said at a news conference Wednesday. They referred to the weak areas as “outliers.”

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Madigan is one of eight hospitals that fall short of targets for patient morbidity, meaning patients at the hospital south of Tacoma have more complications after medical procedures than patients at other hospitals. That finding is in 700 pages of reports assessing each military medical facility on dozens of performance standards.