The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been investigating reports that patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) brain perfusion scans were accidentally exposed to excess radiation.

For the first time ever, Joint Commission-accredited hospitals have access to an interactive tool that simplifies the process for solving the most persistent health care quality and safety problems that exist within our health care system.

Vision Facilities Management Limited, a leading provider of integrated healthcare asset management software, announces the launch of a new two-way communication interface with ECRI Institute that will significantly improve the ability of hospital staff to manage medical device safety alerts and recalls.

ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, and its technology subcontractor, Silverchair, announce the relaunch of two key healthcare Web sites they have developed for the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

By Grena Porto, RN, MS, ARM, CPRHM

In July, Delaware Governor Markell signed a set of nine bills that tighten oversight of physicians and increase protection of children in medical care. Known collectively as The Bradley Bills, Delaware’s new legislation is the most comprehensive of its kind in the country and is named after a physician pedophile who got away with sexual abuse or rape of more than 100 children over the course of 10 years, while fellow physicians, hospitals, government agencies, and others looked the other way.

Continuing its historic march forward in improving patient safety through better communication, the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters is awarding its first Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI) designations.

Pharmacy OneSource, Inc., software-as-a-service provider to more than 1,300 hospitals in the United States, announced that West Florida Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, adopted Sentri7 to give its staff a single point of access to lab results, medication records and patient demographics, data that previously resided in different systems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99,000 people die every year from infections acquired while in hospitals.

As advocates for patient safety in the operating room, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, (AORN), announced support for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s signing of HB 1641 requiring the presence of a circulating nurse in certain operating rooms.