Be prepared to be held accountable for actions by contractors, staff, or volunteers that result in noncompliance with CMS’ Conditions of Participation (CoP) and put a patient in harm’s way. Even if those actions are unintentional, your facility still could face a finding of immediate jeopardy (...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 30, Issue 4
In January 2009, all eyes were on the Hudson River when a plane flying out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport crash-landed in the river after striking a flock of geese. Thanks to fast acting by the pilots, all 155 passengers survived, with few major injuries. Trouble started afterwards, though,...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 30, Issue 3
Consider managing all your pharmaceuticals as hazardous waste, especially if you are a smaller facility. And warn your C-suite that you’ll be scrutinized for compliance once new environmental regulations take effect.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 30, Issue 2
Make sure your staff knows and implements your policy on continuous observation of suicidal patients, check and recheck that air pressures are appropriate to the room, update infection control procedures to the latest recommendations, and be prepared for surprise surveys.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 30, Issue 1
Consult your emergency management plan when facing an impending storm, and update this plan with lessons learned after each storm to avoid grappling with problems that may already have solutions. This is just one of the lessons reinforced for hospitals that were impacted by Winter Storm Jonas (...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 29, Issue 12
Expect CMS to continue pressuring The Joint Commission (TJC) and other accrediting organizations (AO) to find more of the serious life safety, environment of care, and infection control issues the federal agency says they are still missing during surveys.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 29, Issue 11
Some of the top takeaways for environment of care and other healthcare and quality professionals attending The Joint Commission’s (TJC) annual Hospital Executive Briefings held September 14 in New York City.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 29, Issue 10
In a new memo to its state survey agencies, CMS said it would use Joint Commission ligature recommendations—drawn from a task force that was convened by the commission and included several CMS suicide prevention experts—as the federal agency goes forward with clarifying and updating Interpretive...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 29, Issue 9
Do you know the likelihood of recognizing a human trafficking victim? One who came to your facility seeking medical care? Sat with you, spoke with you, was treated by you?
Your chances are about 13% that you’ll recognize them.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 29, Issue 8
To keep themselves as closely aligned with CMS as possible, HFAP has updated their Acute Care Manual with a new requirement for Infection Control Standard 07.01.03—Reduce Risk of Legionella in Water Systems.
