Study: Most Healthcare Workers Ignore Policy, Work While Ill
Researchers conducted active surveillance at a 120-bed long-term care facility from December 2015 to April 2016 looking for respiratory viral infections among residents and healthcare providers.
USP Delays Revised Chapters; USP <800> to be ‘Informational’ Only
USP <800> will still take effect on December 1. The Healthcare Quality and Safety team at USP explained that it would only be “informational and not compendially applicable.”
Share Your Innovative Quality Improvement Ideas
Any professional who is currently involved in patient safety or quality improvement is welcome to submit a case study application. The 2020 PSQH Contest Committee, in conjunction with the PSQH administrative team, will select one case study to highlight in an upcoming issue of PSQH.
Joint Commission Releases Quality Dashboard Reports for ASCs
Available to Joint Commission surveyors and accredited ASCs, the reports are designed to help spur conversations about data, performance measures, and quality improvement in the survey process.
Metabolic Surgery Linked to Significantly Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
The recent research features data collected from more than 13,000 patients—2,287 patients who underwent metabolic surgery and 11,435 patients in a control group that did not have surgery.
Lehman Report Analyzes Cost of Medical Errors Despite Healthcare Progress
The latest report from the Center, titled The Financial and Human Cost of Medical Error, sought to analyze the financial and human cost of medical errors—both in Massachusetts and nationwide—associated with services covered by health insurance.
Q&A: The Difference Between Patient Satisfaction and Quality
Two definitions that are used often in conjunction with a hospital’s merit are patient satisfaction and quality of care. The following is an edited Q&A with Craig Deao, senior leader at Studer Group, on the differences between the two and how they can be used to drive improvement.
Study: Use of High-Risk Antibiotics Leads to Increase in C. difficile Infections
For every 100 days of facility-wide antibiotic therapy using one of these high-risk antibiotics, researchers found a 12% increase in hospital-associated C. diff infection. However, further analysis found that only cephalosporins were significantly correlated with hospital-associated C. diff.
EPA Says There’s No Need for New Hazardous Spill Regs
In its final action, the EPA explains that new regulations are not necessary to regulate spills of hazardous substances (HS) because the “existing cumulative framework of regulatory requirements adequately serves to prevent and contain CWA HS discharges.”
Primary Care Docs Face Obstacles Identifying, Managing Chronic Kidney Disease
Sperati and colleagues at Johns Hopkins heard from four focus groups comprised of more than 30 primary care physicians across the nation, and found that many of them don’t have the knowledge or the tools to identify and manage patients with chronic kidney disease, especially in the early stages of the disease.