As reported in USA Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs, will now make data regarding certain “hospital-acquired conditions” available on its website (www.cms.gov).  These are adverse conditions that develop while a patient is in the hospital.  This information had previously been publicly

In the context of airplanes and motor vehicles, a “black box” is a device that records data at the time of an accident or crash. In the case of cars or trucks, often these devices record things like speed, acceleration and deceleration, whether brakes were applied, whether seat belts were in use and steering angle.