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.
AAMI Announces Newly Updated Standard on Endoscope Cleaning
The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) just announced the release of an updated version of ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021 Flexible and semi-rigid endoscope processing in health care facilities. The last version of the standard formulated by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and AAMI was released in 2015.
OSHA Ups Inspections at Healthcare Facilities Treating COVID Patients
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced an enforcement memorandum for a short-term increase in highly focused inspections directed at hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients.
Maryland Physician Compensation Survey Finds Gaping Gender Pay Gap
Earlier research has shown a pervasive gender pay gap in U.S. physician compensation. A study published in December showed that through a simulated 40-year career, male physicians earn an average adjusted gross income that is about $2 million higher than female physicians.
ABQAURP News: February 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services defines a transition of care as the movement of a patient from one setting of care to another. Settings of care may include hospitals, ambulatory primary care practices, ambulatory specialty care practices, long-term care facilities, home health, and rehabilitation facilities. To improve these transitions, our health care system needs strong interdisciplinary care teams to collaborate and establish processes that improve transitions at each level of care within the health care continuum.
Delivery of Care: Creating Communication Inroads
The healthcare industry continues to look for ways to improve care delivery, quality of care, and outreach. However, these discussions often fail to consider the challenge of real-world logistics. Without reliable access to care—including vital elements like food, transportation, and pharmacies—vulnerable patients will remain hard pressed to improve their overall quality of health.
Addressing the MRI and CT Adoption Gap in Cardiovascular Imaging Certification
While nuclear cardiac imaging and echocardiography have been the mainstays of cardiovascular imaging modalities, MRI and CT offer cardiologists additional diagnostic tools that could improve outcomes in patients with heart disease. For example, advances in coronary CT technology allow for novel analyses such as removal of artifacts related to coronary calcification, detailed coronary plaque characterization, and even dynamic myocardial perfusion analysis.
How Direct Contracting Initiatives Can Help Bring CBOs Into VBC Networks
Providers, payers, community advocates, and the public health sector increasingly recognize that implementing value-based care (VBC) will be difficult without also addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the healthcare ecosystem. Unlike traditional fee-for-service healthcare, VBC is about proactively keeping people healthy rather than engaging in reactive and more costly “sick care.”