The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) has put together a nice piece on the various accreditation options available to hospitals following their annual conference in Atlanta. The ASHE piece cleanly discusses the existing options for accreditation with a strong engineering and...
One of the time-honored pursuits, mostly as a function of what you can and cannot manage through the plan for improvement (PFI) process, is what exactly constitutes a Life Safety Code® (LSC) deficiency. Just so you know, I used the “exactly” descriptor for a reason—because the definition, while...
Fill in the blank: Medication storage areas should be designed to address at least three things. One is to ensure the stability and integrity of the medications being stored. The second is to prevent diversion. The third is _________________.
One in three hospitals eligible for The Joint Commission's 'top performer' status has provided an evidence-based care practice 95% of the time for patients with certain conditions.
In our ongoing series (okay, perhaps that’s a rather ambitious descriptor, but there’s been more than one) relative to the upcoming implementation of the changes to OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard, you might find the information regarding the required pictograms helpful in getting your...
During an emergency, the hospital should determine the level of control that is needed for the particular event at hand. How could you control access while maintaining essential functions?
Most clinicians have probably done it. They might do it out in the open or sneak it in when supervisors aren't watching. Some might do it several times a day, while others might not even realize they're doing it. What are all these people doing? Workarounds.
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...
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...
