The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for hospitals, disrupting patient safety initiatives and straining healthcare systems. However, the American Hospital Association (AHA), just released a new report, New Analysis Shows Hospitals Improving Performance on Key Patient Safety...
The CMS Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM) went into effect this January for acute care hospitals and for cancer hospitals exempt from the Prospective Payment System (PPS). Built around five domains, the PSSM is meant to assess whether hospitals have a structure and culture that...
There are many great quotes about leadership, but none specifically about being an excellent laboratory safety officer. The absence in popular media of brave lab officers giving rousing speeches to staff on banding together and wearing their PPE to keep OSHA at bay is an oversight that will need...
Near misses—unplanned incidents that have the potential to cause harm but do not—present valuable opportunities to identify systemic vulnerabilities and prevent adverse outcomes in settings like behavioral health.
If you’re at your hospital, lab, or clinic when reading this and look up, odds are you can see a sprinkler overhead ready to put out a fire. These ubiquitous safety devices have saved countless lives ever since the first modern sprinkler was installed, though it was many more years before they...
When it comes to PPE and the role it plays in lab safety, little more can be said about its importance that the healthcare industry hasn’t already expressed. Lab coats, goggles, gloves, and face shields are all necessary for preventing staff injuries and exposure. The science is clear that...
I’m penning this as I look out the window at Logan International Airport in Boston and take in the efforts to keep the runways clear enough for takeoffs and landings—I don’t know how the pilots feel, but I think they’re doing a pretty good job.
While it is more than likely that I’ve touched on this in the past, the proper application of power strips and relocatable power taps in healthcare is very much a challenge for folks. It seems that (at least from my observations and experience) that the greatest risk is coming from the use of...
In the CDC’s most recent progress report on healthcare-associated infections (HAI), the agency found that between 2022 and 2023, there were major decreases in central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), ventilator-associated...
Because of the risk of physical injury, psychological trauma, or even death, CMS and Joint Commission (TJC) surveyors expect strict adherence to rules regarding patient restraints. There are times when hospitals and healthcare providers need to restrain a patient physically or chemically, but...
