Each year, 2.5 million patients suffer from pressure ulcers and injuries, with 60,000 dying from complications. To put that into some context, in 2018 there were fewer suicide attempts (1.4 million) and deaths (48,000) than there were pressure...
Two decades after the dawn of the patient safety movement in healthcare with the publication of “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” medical errors remain a vexing challenge at healthcare settings. Encouraging staff to participate in safety event reporting is a primary...
Putting aside stereotypes and anecdotes about age and technological competence, experts say that issues like vision and hearing loss can make telemedicine tricky for any patient, but especially older patients. However, there are ways providers can help these patients get the best use out of...
Keep assessing how you triage your COVID-19 and influenza patients as the flu season escalates, and include facilities management as well as clinicians and other staff in the continuing discussion. Managing both kinds of highly contagious respiratory infections will pose unique challenges,...
As the nation continues to discuss use of force by law enforcement, healthcare organizations must have their own discussions on how force is applied on their grounds. There are no simple solutions for responding to and preventing violence in the clinic or hospital. But when facilities do not put...
Improving patient safety has always been a priority for hospitals and health systems, but COVID-19, and the possibility of a second surge in a few weeks or months, is bringing new urgency to these efforts. All hospitals must quickly assess their current safety-related processes, identify...
In 2018, the most recent year of final fatality data, the third leading cause of death was preventable deaths from drug overdoses, motor vehicle crashes, and falls. The number of deaths from COVID-19 this year already has surpassed the number of preventable deaths in calendar year 2018.