If your healthcare system accreditation is tied to a long-term care facility or nursing home, be aware that the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is still going state by state to audit select facilities on-site for adherence to life safety and emergency...
The prolonged social isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for psychiatric hospitals and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IID) that often depend on a patient’s family, caregivers, and friends to provide...
Consider joining forces with local or even statewide hospitals to find beds for patients during an emergency surge. The plan could improve patient care while saving precious resources like money, manpower, and staff energy when setting up alternate care sites.
In case you missed it, here’s a roundup of breaking news from the Accreditation & Quality Compliance Center since Inside Accreditation & Quality was last published.
Review your hospital’s inventory of different types of sprinkler heads, and then ensure you have at least six spare sprinkler heads for each type and temperature rating of those installed in your facility. Those spare sprinkler heads will need to be readily available and stored in a cabinet...
The last few months of managing a pandemic have exhausted you. But you still need to prepare for that upcoming survey, whenever it happens, whether it’s a virtual review or an on-site visit.
Start by taking a look back at your last survey report as well as last year’s environment of care...
CMS announced in 2019 that, in an attempt to address complaints that hospital surveys to validate findings by accreditation organizations (AO) were done too long after the fact and that facilities were faced with double survey duty, it would test a program to conduct its work at the same time...
Expect accrediting organizations (AO) to get even tougher on problems found within the physical environment after yet another critical CMS report to Congress about the agency’s oversight of AOs. CMS also expressed concerns...
Set up clear communication with your hospital staff and remain open to feedback as you receive and administer the COVID-19 vaccines.
Work with supervisors and other leadership to schedule staff vaccinations and, if possible, work around shifts so that workers who do experience symptoms...