Communication between emergency management teams and outside/local agencies is always lacking. Especially when it comes to disaster response, it seems like notification is always siloed among one department or organization, creating response delays, inadequacies, and sheer chaos.
Accreditation and quality leaders have long relied on The Joint Commission (TJC)’s most frequently scored standards as a barometer for risk of getting a finding. However, that approach may no longer be enough.
Hospitals invest heavily in quality improvement, patient safety programs, risk management infrastructure, and regulatory compliance teams. But those functions often operate in parallel rather than as a unified system, and early warning signals can be missed.
In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the important issues that affect your job every day. Today, he talks about national lab safety trends...
Facilities should develop a standard protocol for dealing with spills. Protocols will vary based on the biological agent, but a systematic process should involve several key steps.
Fire and life safety compliance in healthcare often centers on well-known problem areas such as fire doors, sprinkler systems, and corridor clutter, but some of the most consequential risks receive far less attention.
Protective gowns are a foundational element of laboratory and infection prevention safety programs, yet documentation practices around PPE procurement can be inconsistent.
When patient harm leads to litigation, the warning signs are often already present in the record—or notably absent from it. Learn how early event reporting, documentation practices, and structured handoff systems can shape a hospital’s legal defensibility.
ECRI released its annual report to identify the top 10 health technology hazards that experts believe warrant greater attention in 2026. The report offers practical solutions to address each hazard and safeguard patient care.
Accreditation and quality leaders face mounting pressure from multiple directions, exposing weaknesses tied to higher stakes. What once resulted in corrective action plans is more frequently turning into repeat citations, condition-level findings, or downstream legal exposure.
