Beyond the Front Lines
Earlier this year, the National Patient Safety Foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute released a report calling for greater transparency in healthcare as a means of improving patient safety. Defining transparency as “the free, uninhibited flow of information available to the scrutiny of others,” the report argues for transparency across all areas of healthcare: between clinicians and patients; among clinicians; between organizations; and with the public (NPSF Lucian Leape Institute, 2015).
The Evolution of Patient and Family Representatives
In our cover feature, Deborah Wachenheim tells the story of a grassroots effort in Massachusetts that resulted in a mandate for every hospital in the state to have a patient and family advisory council (PFAC). Now, five years after the mandate went into effect, PFACs are in use in many hospitals across the country. Deborah, who was involved in the Massachusetts movement, also describes experiences and lessons learned in two hospitals—an academic medical center and a community hospital.
Spectra 900 UVC Overhead Light Disinfection System for Labs, Operating Rooms, and Telemedicine
Spectra254, a provider of UVC light disinfection solutions, has released the Spectra 900 Series Overhead Cleaning System, a fixed decontamination system similar to a ceiling light fixture that kills MRSA, Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), and other pathogens. Using three custom-built germicidal bulbs with protective FEP sleeves, the Spectra 900 Series Overhead Cleaning System is appropriate … Continued
The Emory Experience: Quality Improvement Skills Labs in Interdisciplinary Education
By Ariadne K. DeSimone In spring 2014, one day after taking my Step 2 Clinical Knowledge of the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE), I finally had time to turn my attention to thoughts about my future and to the email messages that had accumulated over the past month. One announcement stood out: The Emory … Continued
DebMed Announces Results of 2015 Survey on Hand Hygiene
DebMed® has announced the results of its 4th annual survey on the state of healthcare hand hygiene compliance. Results from more than 850 healthcare professionals throughout North America show that while improved methods for gathering reliable data with electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring are known to contribute to increased hand hygiene compliance, competing healthcare priorities … Continued
Physical Therapy Joins the Movement
By Susan Carr This year’s annual conference of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Massachusetts chapter (APTAMA) focused on a microcosm of issues in healthcare improvement: value, collaboration, measurement, and spread. After hearing Alan M. Jette, PT, PhD, FAPTA, deliver the keynote address, “System Thinking to Thrive in a Changing Health Care Environment,” I participated on … Continued
The Emory Experience: Quality Improvement Skills Labs in Interdisciplinary Education
By Ariadne K. DeSimone In spring 2014, one day after taking my Step 2 Clinical Knowledge of the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE), I finally had time to turn my attention to thoughts about my future and to the email messages that had accumulated over the past month. One announcement stood out: The … Continued
ECRI Institute Issues Technology Hazards List for 2016
Reprocessing of flexible endoscopes rises to #1 hazard; failure to recognize clinical alarms, health IT errors and other issues remain perennial hazards. Every year hospitals are blindsided and patients are harmed by unexpected health technology hazards. Medical technology is intended to improve patient care, but even the best technology—if configured, used, or maintained improperly—can lead … Continued
New Sentinel Event Alert Focuses on Preventing Patient Falls
Preventing patient falls and fall-related injuries is the focus of the Sentinel Event Alert: Issue 55 released by The Joint Commission. The new alert examines the contributing factors to patient falls and includes suggested solutions to be implemented by health care organizations to help reduce patient falls and falls with injury, according to the press … Continued
Study Finds Higher Rates of Perioperative Medication Errors than Previous Research
A study published in the October 2015 issue of Anesthesiology reports on the frequency of medication errors and adverse events in the perioperative setting. The rates of errors and events were significantly higher than documented by previous studies. The recent study found: A drug error or adverse drug event occurred in approximately 1 in 20 … Continued