How to Improve Patient Safety
Patient safety includes medical errors that impact patients and “near misses” that could have reached patients. Patient safety has been a pressing issue in healthcare since 1999, with the publication of the landmark report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. York, Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health reassessed the health system’s approach to patient safety in 2020.
Q&A: APIC CEO on Need for Infection Prevention Efforts in Home Health—Part 1
As more individuals prefer to receive care in their home and older adults opt to age in place, home healthcare has seen substantial growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. HealthLeaders spoke with Jopp about infection prevention and home health.
Misdiagnosis Tied to Serious Harm of 795K Americans Annually, Study Finds
The new research article, which was published by BMJ Quality & Safety, extrapolates total false negative diagnoses that result in death or permanent disability from “The Big Three” disease categories for misdiagnosis with serious harm: vascular events, infections, and cancers.
Former OSHA Chief: Agency Should Prepare for Next Pandemic
In a June 16 viewpoint article in JAMA, David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, wrote the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should take steps to better protect workers in future pandemics, including issuing a federal pandemic preparedness standard.
APIC Puts Pressure on Congress for Nursing Home Infection Prevention Efforts
In the letter, the organization emphasizes the “astounding” lack of attention given to infection control in the nation’s nursing homes. It also references multiple government reports that have highlighted the results of the lack of attention.
Antibiotic Stewardship Initiative at Urgent Care Clinics Cuts Prescribing by 15%
Most antibiotic prescriptions in the United States are made in outpatient settings and as many as 30% of those prescriptions may be unnecessary. Antibiotic overuse has been linked to antibiotic resistance and antibiotic-associated adverse effects.
Focusing on Hand Hygiene to Prevent HAIs
The report, Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections Through Hand Hygiene: 2022 Update, was published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The Society of Healthcare Epidemiologists of America gathered the subject matter experts who performed and managed the report’s literature review.
WHO Declares End of COVID-19 Global Emergency With ‘Pleasure’
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the end of the COVID-19 global public health emergency in a statement on May 5 that offered themes of both relief and precaution.
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades Find Increase in HAIs During Pandemic
The average risk of three healthcare-associated infections reached a five-year high in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2023 Hospital Safety Grade data.
California Hospital Reinstates Masking Policy After COVID-19 Outbreak Among Staff, Patients
A California hospital has reinstated its masking policy after more than a dozen staffers as well as some patients were diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a statement from the hospital’s parent company, Kaiser Permanente.