Key Trends and Cautionary Tales: Staffing Shortages and Patient Safety
Ask any healthcare executive to name the biggest issue that will demand their attention in 2022, and the response will be staffing shortages and their impact on patient safety. Those focused on improving care quality might consider how key trends will play out and the impact of current industry challenges on their healthcare ecosystem.
Healthcare Worker Rescue Package Encourages Simplicity
Clinicians have passed their breaking points. Staffing shortages are at all-time highs. And as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some health systems are reevaluating roles to identify essential functions for maintaining their staff’s emotional and psychological well-being.
Blockchain-Based Electronic Signatures Streamline Workflows
Practices that want to be resilient in emergencies and better serve their patients should move to all-digital systems. Those that don’t will quickly be left behind. Happily, going digital can also make complying with HIPAA and other privacy regulations more affordable. One major piece of the digital puzzle is electronic signatures on a variety of forms, including intake and consent forms. In this article, we’ll explore this state-of-the-art technology and look at where electronic signatures can remove friction and redundancy for providers.
Accelerating Healthcare’s Digital Transformation
Communication errors are disturbingly common in healthcare, affecting patient outcomes and care quality. The Journal of Patient Safety reports that almost half of malpractice claims involve communication failures. Fixing these errors is a question of systems, not people. Improving the communications system is critical to improving clinical workflows, and better workflows benefit everyone. Advanced clinical communication & collaboration platforms that put real-time, contextual information into the hands of care team members improve cost, quality, and experience for patients and providers alike.
Staffing Shortages Aren’t Just a Business Problem, They’re a Patient Safety Threat
Since 2020, the healthcare industry has lost nearly half a million workers, exacerbating staffing shortages that existed prior to the start of the pandemic. One of the hardest-hit areas is the pharmacy. As of September 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected there would be 43,000 pharmacist and pharmacy technician job openings each year throughout the next decade.
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 49 – How Female Physicians Can Prevent Burnout
On episode 49 of PSQH: The Podcast, Dr. Tammie Chang, author of the new book Boundaries for Women Physicians: Love Your Life and Career in Medicine, talks about how female physicians can prevent burnout, stress, and exhaustion. Part of PSQH’s Patient Safety Awareness Week activities, this episode is presented in partnership with GOJO – the makers of Purell, Nuance, PDC, and the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.
Improve patient safety in the emergency department through AI
By Dr. Daniel J. Sullivan A 2020 study by Newman-Toker, et al. identified that 15 diseases account for about half of all serious misdiagnosis-related harms. The research focused on the “Big Three” categories of vascular events, infections, and cancers and found that 10% of patients with a “Big Three” disease are misdiagnosed. A likely explanation … Continued
Workforce Shortages Identified as Top Patient Safety Concern of 2022
ECRI is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings. The organization’s annual Top 10 patient safety list is developed by multidisciplinary staff at ECRI and the organization’s affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). Patient safety concerns are also validated by scientific literature as well as ECRI and ISMP data such as accident investigations and reported medication safety problems.
Resistance Isn’t the Enemy; It’s a Valuable Resource!
By Lori Moore Hand hygiene is an evidence-based best practice that spans across all hierarchies and disciplines,1 and every healthcare facility is faced with the challenging task of continually rolling out improvement efforts. Multimodal strategies are recommended to bring about changes in hand hygiene performance, among which is the task of determining healthcare workers’ barriers … Continued
10 Recommendations to Improve Pandemic Preparedness
The United States was inadequately prepared to respond to the coronavirus pandemic such as insufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The country leads the world in COVID-19 deaths, with 991,260 lives lost as of today, according to worldometer.