Anticoagulant drugs remain one of the top safety concerns for hospitals around the country, and government agencies and medication safety organizations continue to devote time and energy to make anticoagulant oversight a priority for healthcare organizations.
Between hand hygiene, sterile practices, environmental cleaning, and a host of other infection control best practices, the healthcare industry has come a long way in taking precautions to prevent patient infections. But according to the CDC, approximately 1.7 million healthcare-...
When the Institute of Medicine's report To Err Is Human was released in 1999, there was a clear shift in the patient safety world. Previously, clinicians absorbed the brunt of the blame when it came to medical errors. The report shed new light on the medical industry and...
Editor’s note: NPSG.06.01.01 was approved by The Joint Commission in June 2013 as a new 2014 National Patient Safety Goal. The final standard includes two phases: Phase I, beginning January 2014, requires hospital leaders to establish alarm system safety as a hospital priority by...
When it comes to medication reconciliation (also known as “med rec”), accuracy is everything. Having an effective process in place ensures each patient’s medication is accurately recorded and avoids inconsistencies or potential errors throughout each transition of care.
In 2011, some of the hospitals within Adventist Health System (AHS), headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Fla., embarked on mortality reviews for patients in their EDs—and didn’t like what they saw.
Improving patient handoffs has long been on the radar of hospitals and health systems. As healthcare has become more specialized, handoffs occur more frequently and carry even greater importance. Ineffective handoffs can have serious implications on patient care and safety....
Look at any hospital ranking system and you’ll see the same headlines: “Best hospitals in the U.S.,” or “Top-ranked hospitals in the country.” Although these are attention grabbing for consumers, what metrics really define the word “best”?
First the good news: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps equipped with patient monitoring devices have helped avoid adverse events and saved hospitals money. The bad news? Hospitals are generally inconsistent in using those monitoring devices and adhering to PCA safety practices or...
In case hospitals weren’t devoting enough attention to preventing central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), The Joint Commission has released a new toolkit to equip hospital leaders, managers, and frontline caregivers with easy-to-use tools for safely inserting, maintaining, and...