Construction Miscommunication
Administrators can encourage this storytelling approach to ensure that designers, contractors, and maintenance staff better understand how their decisions may impact all of a building’s occupants.
Opioid Prescriptions Take a Dive
According to data from the Danbury, Connecticut–based IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, opioid prescriptions in general declined by 10.2% in 2017. Prescriptions for the highest doses fell by 16.1% in 2017 as well, and dropped more than 33% since January 2016. The report also found that prescription opioid volume has decreased every year over the past five years in all 50 states.
Cleanliness Sensors: Using Technology to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance
Lutheran is among the healthcare organizations nationwide that in recent years decided to try hand hygiene monitoring technology in the hopes it could improve hand hygiene compliance—and in the process reduce the number of infections and avoid citations from accrediting organizations like The Joint Commission, which in January put stricter enforcement in place.
The Case for Making Simple Changes
Healthcare providers are struggling to implement improvements and rarely have time for meaningful engagements with patients that could translate to even the smallest advances in patient care.
New Study Finds Use of PIV Maintenance Bundles Helps Prevent Bloodborne Infections
The study, “A Bundled Approach to Decrease the Rate of Primary Bloodstream Infections Related to Peripheral Intravenous Catheters,” was published in the March 2018 issue of The Journal of the Association for Vascular Access and found that implementing a PIV maintenance bundle using disinfecting caps and tips successfully decreased primary BSIs from 0.57 to 0.11 per 1,000 patient days.
Q&A: Joint Commission on Workplace Violence
The Joint Commission has released Sentinel Event Alert 59, which addresses violence—physical and verbal—against healthcare workers. Patient Safety Monitor Journal spoke with Victoria Fennel, of Compass Clinical Consulting, about the alert and healthcare’s culture of violence.
Quick Look: Immediate Jeopardy
It works like this: CMS catches wind of a severe safety violation at your facility and places it under IJ. You are then given a deadline to fix the problem and come up with a plan to ensure it never happens again—and if you don’t, CMS will revoke your facility’s Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Strategies That Support Effective and Cohesive Wayfinding
With the increased importance placed on patient satisfaction, effective wayfinding has become even more central to supporting care. While signage is an essential part of wayfinding—that spatial art and science of guiding healthcare visitors to their destination—it’s but one of many tactics that form a part of an effective wayfinding strategy.
Planning for Active Shooters in Your Hospital
When people think of workplace violence in healthcare, they tend to think of loud verbal threats or fighting between patients and providers. However, no discussion on this topic is complete without taking into account gun violence.
Case study: Cutting Overridden Medication Safety Alerts at DeKalb Medical
Last October, the hospital was placed under immediate jeopardy following the death of a patient with dementia. DeKalb Medical officers self-reported the incident to CMS and released a statement saying they “want to make sure it never happens again.” The case has spurred a series of patient safety reforms, many of which seek to reduce overreliance on technology.