Central line infections still plague hospitals. Reducing them is a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG.07.04.01) and they represent a CMS "never event" that is reported publicly on its Hospital Compare website. Unfortunately, central lines are necessary,...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 24, Issue 11
On August 27, CMS released significant changes impacting several areas of the Conditions of Participation (CoP). Interestingly, the information included in Transmittal 88 on August 27 rescinded and replaced a relatively recent update, Transmittal 86, on July 19.
To help you track these...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 24, Issue 11
Think back to your last visit to a hospital as a patient or family member. Every patient care area has recognizable, ubiquitous items, such as automated blood pressure pumps, compression pumps, and IV pumps. But how do you know if those items were cleaned and/or disinfected? Were they used with...
Data collection and management is a growing field, but Richard Corder, MHA, FACHE, reminds those in healthcare that data is not the end point, but rather a means to an end.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 24, Issue 11
Overall, BAs have been involved in about 22% of the more than 600 breaches that have been reported on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website from September 2009 through August 2013, affecting a total of about 22.5 million individuals, according to a health data breach...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 24, Issue 11
Think back to your last visit to a hospital as a patient or family member. Every patient care area has recognizable, ubiquitous items, such as automated blood pressure pumps, compression pumps, and IV pumps. But how do you know if those items were cleaned and/or disinfected? Were they used with...
The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) has awarded a $100,000 grant for a patient safety research project that will examine the mechanisms underlying patient falls in hospitals. The group of researchers and architects will then offer recommendations for improved facility...
Research findings call on hospital leaders to take a deeper look at how staff—primarily nurses—interact with patients, to determine a way for patients at highest risk for infection to come into contact with fewer workers.
The most recent round of administrative penalties for hospital deficiencies constituting immediate jeopardy includes two patient falls resulting in deaths, a wrong-site surgery, and a retained surgical object. Click the link above to read more.