Bravo for our Governor Gregoire and her proposed health care investments. She is proposing investing $7.89 million to increase patient safety in Washington State.

Specifically, she wants to add $930,000 to strengthen the state's credentialing and licensing and disciplining standards for health care providers;

$2 million to investigate complaints against health care providers;

$1.4 million to provide real time information for providers and pharmacists on prescription drugs to reduce the negative effects of adverse drug reactions, especially for seniors who take multiple drugs;

Hospitals will be required to report adverse events, within existing budgets;

$3 million to help hospitals train more qualified nurses, including innovative partnerships to do so;

$560,000 to increase licensing standards for registered counselors, a move sorely needed in Washington State.

In our last Dispatch, we featured an article on Patient Safety and the incredible variation in hospital and surgical practices. Having greater transparency in the health care system is an important step in the right direction.

We also applaud the several recent articles on the Health Populi Blog related to patient safety and quality care.

Cheers and more later. Kathleen