NQF Report Offers Guidance on Reporting Measurement Systems
Using feedback from patients, patient advocates, purchasers, public and private payers, clinicians, provider groups, measure developers and implementers, statisticians, and health services researchers, the group looked at how standard measures used in healthcare assessment can be combined in a system to improve health outcomes and drive high-value care.
Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail to Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others at Risk
The concerns raised in Oakland also have swept across the U.S., according to interviews, a review of government workplace safety complaints and health facility inspection reports. A KHN investigation found that dozens of nursing homes and hospitals ignored official guidelines to separate COVID patients from those without the coronavirus, in some places fueling its spread and leaving staff unprepared and infected or, in some cases, dead.
During the Pandemic, Aspire to Identify and Prevent Medication Errors and to Avoid Blaming Attitudes
Occasionally, a “resource” nurse is available to assist in the ICU. However, too often, the resource nurse is tasked with auditing activities to ensure proper nursing documentation rather than assisting with clinical patient care. Subsequently, nurses have been reprimanded for documentation failures and urged to document care they were unable to provide.
Promote Flu Vaccination to Help Avoid ‘Twindemic’
There is widespread concern among healthcare professionals that the United States could be facing two infectious disease emergencies this flu season. For example, the California Immunization Coalition and the California Chronic Care Coalition are urging Americans to get flu vaccination to avoid a deadly “twindemic” this fall and winter.
Commitment to Continuous Improvement Contributes to Top Report Card
As a testament to Kettering Health Network’s performance, all of its eligible hospitals have earned A’s from The Leapfrog Group in its rating of how well healthcare facilities protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries, and infections.
DNV-GL Now Second Deeming Authority for Psych Hospitals
The approval provides another option for the nation’s more than 600 psychiatric hospitals, said Patrick Horine, president of DNV-GL, the only for-profit AO of the four authorized to accredit acute care hospitals overall. Unlike the others, DNV-GL surveys hospitals at least once every three years, as required by CMS, but then also visits hospitals in each off year to ensure they are maintaining patient safety.
Avoid Punitive Approach to Your Safety Event Reporting
The co-authors of the recent research article, which was published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, conclude that safety event reporting regimes that focus on punishing individuals are self-defeating.
Dozens of U.S. Hospitals Poised to Defy FDA’s Directive on COVID Plasma
As many as 45 hospitals from coast to coast have expressed interest in collaborating on a randomized, controlled clinical trial sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said principal investigator Dr. Todd Rice.
Health Officials Worry Nation’s Not Ready for COVID-19 Vaccine
While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work.
HIMSS Outlines Political Health IT Priorities and Progress on Regulatory and Congressional Issues
While the terms of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services interoperability rulings were published informally on March 9, the official compliance date went into effect on May 1. Due to the pandemic, a period of enforcement discretion has extended several key compliance dates.