There are many benefits to utilizing telemedicine services, including increased patient access, enhanced reach of healthcare services, improved continuity of care and case management, higher patient satisfaction, and reduced patient risk of contracting communicable infectious diseases (because...
Recently, I was queried about the efficacy of having a single individual be responsible for the pre-construction risk assessment (PCRA) process based on anecdotal evidence of others doing the same. Personally, I am not familiar with any organizations (and I’m familiar with a fair number of them...
The whole purpose of the building tour is to determine if your facility is in compliance with the Life Safety Code® (LSC). The surveyor will most likely start at the top of your building inspecting mechanical rooms and the roof.
In the world of hospital laboratories, where precision and accuracy are non-negotiable, the culture of safety forms the bedrock of daily operations. It is within this critical context that Daniel J. Scungio, MT (ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ), who has over 30 years of experience as a...
Determining how your facility addresses requests for information about how it complies with CMS’ Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Conditions of Participation (CoP) while protecting sensitive patient safety details is a task for leadership and the hospital attorney...
In its Respiratory Disease Season Outlook, the CDC expects the 2023-2024 season will look similar to last year. Last year’s hospitalizations were higher than experienced before the COVID-19 pandemic, in which severe disease was caused primarily by the influenza virus and the respiratory...
This is Part 2 of our coverage of revisions to U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) <797> requirements for compounding sterile medication, which were discussed by Robert Campbell, PharmD, BCSCP, The Joint Commission’s (TJC) director of Medication Management, during the accreditor’s...
Safety problems identified within the physical environment account for 60%–70% of deficiencies scored by The Joint Commission (TJC) during surveys, according to TJC statistics. However, in the first six months of this year, almost 90% of those Environment of Care (EC) and Life Safety (LS)...
In general, I think it can be rather instructive when (and to what degree) our friends in Chicago modify an existing Sentinel Event Alert, particularly one that relates to the management of risks in the physical environment. And this latest update, as represented by...
A recent study published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety has found some good news—the number of reported unintended retained surgical items (URSI) has continued to decline since 2019. While this is a positive trend, it’s not the same as saying the risk is gone. The...
