BETA Healthcare Group Partners with Advanced Practice Strategies to Improve Perinatal Safety

In addition to my consulting work (and blogging) I'm chairman of the board of Advanced Practice Strategies, a leading medical risk management company. The company recently signed a strategic partnership with BETA Healthcare Group (BHG), the largest provider of hospital malpractice coverage in California.As you'll see from this press release, which BHG posted on its homepage, the partnership makes a lot of sense. Physicians and nurses will be trained to improve patient safety, leading to higher quality and a safer hospital environment. That will reduce complications and adverse events, thereby cutting health care costs and malpractice costs. We're rolling out this initiative throughout California and other states so patients can expect to reap the benefits soon.

Alamo, CA, July 7, 2008 –As part of a large scale commitment to improving perinatal safety, BETA Healthcare Group (BHG) announced today a strategic partnership with Advanced Practice Strategies (APS), a leader in patient safety education. BHG is very proud to support its member hospitals financially in purchasing APS’s online courses which focus on the key drivers of obstetrical claims.“BHG and APS share a commitment to improving patient safety and offering clinicians the best tools available for protecting patients and this makes it a great partnership,” said Tom Wander, CEO of BETA Healthcare Group. “Our organization has adopted a framework for improving perinatal care within our member hospitals and we believe that the extraordinary quality of APS education makes it the foundation for our program’s success.”BHG member hospitals will earn significant reductions in their hospital malpractice premiums when they demonstrate their labor and delivery staff’s competence in fetal monitoring interpretation, use of common nomenclature, and participation in routine strip review.  APS courses address these issues directly and focus on the primary drivers of obstetrical malpractice claims –fetal assessment and monitoring, management of shoulder dystocia and operative vaginal delivery.In addition, BHG’s participation spearheads an initiative in California by a number of hospitals and hospital systems to improve obstetrical outcomes and reduce malpracticeclaims through education.  APS is helping to organize a group purchase of this education throughout the state. Because BHG is the largest provider of hospital malpractice coverage in California, representing over 1,200 labor and delivery clinicians in 35 hospitals, its participation is also helping to provide significant cost savings for the rest of the state’s hospitals.“We have dedicated ourselves to helping healthcare organizations work toward the uniform practice and teamwork that reduces error. We are, therefore, very proud to be supporting BHG’s vision for improved care,” said Dennis Ferrill, CEO of APS.  “Also, it should not be overlooked that with BHG’s leadership, and the added participation of physician insurers, they are sparking system-wide change and improvement and making it easier for smaller organizations to participate in this education as well.”To learn more about BETA Healthcare Group call (925) 838-6070 or log onto the company's website, www.betahg.com.To learn more about APS and its offering, please contact Shara Cohen at 617-367- 0553 [or email her].