Q&A: The Patient Safety Implications of Overlapping Surgeries
A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association made headlines this November, announcing that overlapping surgeries didn’t increase the risk of postop complications. This study, and several others like it that came out in 2017, suggests the practice may not be as risky as some have feared.
How Hospitals Are Failing Black Mothers
Researchers have found that women who deliver at these so-called “black-serving” hospitals are more likely to have serious complications — from infections to birth-related embolisms to emergency hysterectomies — than mothers who deliver at institutions that serve fewer black women.
Counting Patient Steps Predicts Readmissions Risk
In a recent study, commercial activity monitors showed a correlation between the number of inpatient steps and the likelihood of readmission.
Needlesticks On The Rise, Despite Safeguards
Compliance with safety sharps continues to decrease, leaving facilities open to safety citations.
Patient Handoffs: The Gap Where Mistakes Are Made
Communication failures contribute to somewhere between 50% to 80% of sentinel events. So it’s the number one cause of the most serious events in hospitals which in turn are a leading cause of death in the U.S.
So Much Care It Hurts: Unneeded Scans, Therapy, Surgery Only Add To Patient’s Ills
From duplicate blood tests to unnecessary knee replacements, millions of patients are being bombarded with screenings, scans and treatments that offer little or no benefit.
IAD: An Avoidable and Preventable Complication of Care
Clinical assessment of IAD is foundational for effective prevention and management, yet it remains a challenge for bedside staff.
How to Spot Suicide and Ligature Risks in Your Facility
Last year The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert to hospitals urging them to do a better job of identifying suicidal ideation in patients, this year the accreditor is doubling down, issuing specific warnings in Joint Commission publications and FAQs outlining concerns about ligature, or hanging, risks.
Structured Patient Handoffs: The Movement Toward Adverse Event Reduction in the Perioperative Unit
The use of a standardized handoff checklist tool improves time efficiency, reduces medication discrepancies, and there is a reduction of deficits or missed communications in the handoff process.
You’ve Got Harm
For 11 months, two AHS hospitals tried out an automated system called the Automated All-Cause Harm Trigger System (ACHTS). The system’s software uses 41 algorithms to monitor electronic medical records (EMR) for signs that harm has befallen a patient, with flagged charts sent to a reviewer to examine. By the end of the study, the ACHTS caught 2,696 cases of patient harm, compared to the 132 harms caught using the old sampling method.