A culture of safety can be an elusive concept, making it difficult to create and even harder to sustain. That's why one region of VHA, Inc., is helping to lead its hospitals toward that goal one step at a time.
Each year, The Joint Commission unveils which standards were among the most cited by surveyors not just for hospitals, but across all of the agency's accreditation programs. Its most recent list, covering calendar year 2010 surveys, reveals many repeat offenders among the most problematic...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 22, Issue 7
Let's say your hospital is looking at a construction project that will directly affect the location of the triage entrance to your emergency department (ED). It's an extensive project and will take almost a full year to complete.
These 14 CLAS standards are organized by themes: Culturally Competent Care (Standards 1-3), Language Access Services (Standards 4-7), and Organizational Supports for Cultural Competence (Standards 8-14). Within this framework, there are three types of standards of varying...
According to Joint Commission standards and federal law, patients have the right to effective communication, including access to interpretation and translation services. It's easy to understand why. Effective communication with a patient is a critical component of patient safety, education, and...
Missed diagnoses in the ED are often considered to be unfortunate errors on the physician's part-the symptoms just weren't obvious or clear enough and the underlying cause was simply missed. However, a new review of malpractice data from EDs suggests that poor communication...