News Article
Former U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce Speaks Out on Patient Safety Organizations
May 20, 2009
Long-Time Health Care Advocate Participates in Today's PSO Webinar
Public Relations Contact: Russell Thomas, (202) 857-4517
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Patient Safety Organizations, or PSOs, give health care providers the freedom to talk freely with each other, safe from the fear of litigation, to share information about medical challenges and solutions. By learning from each other and comparing notes, doctors and other providers will be able to find best practices and implement them in a clinical setting so that more patients can benefit from this knowledge. Better outcomes and improved quality of care will be complimented by the reduced costs as we face fewer complications from medical errors.
So says Womble Carlyle attorney and former eight-term U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), who spoke at today's Womble Carlyle PSO Webinar. The program discussed how health care providers can participate in Patient Safety Organizations, and potential legal issues that providers need to understand.
"I am personally invested in this issue as a parent who had a child misdiagnosed when she was fighting cancer," Rep. Pryce said. "We went back to the hospital numerous times for explanations, but were met with silence and roadblocks. Finally, years later, we did learn the truth. But it was the fear of litigation that stopped the flow of information - information that not only helped us as parents of a dying child, but which also had the potential to help other children facing similar symptoms."
Rep. Pryce was joined in the panel discussion by Womble Carlyle attorney Peggy Binzer, who as a Senate staffer spearheaded the Patient Safety Act, as well as representatives of the Agency for Health Research and Quality, the federal agency that developed the new PSO regulations.
Rep. Pryce's work in Congress earned the acclaim of countless national organizations that recognized her as a leader on pediatric health and cancer initiatives. Pryce served on the Speaker's Working Group on Managed Care Reform; co-chaired the House Cancer Caucus; and authored several health care bills, including the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, legislation to establish a Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program, the Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act, and the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act.