Medical Device Employees Are Often In the O.R., Raising Concerns About Influence
Unlike rotating teams of nurses and surgical techs, reps are a consistent presence, experts say, often functioning as uber-assistants to surgeons with whom they cultivate close relationships and upon whom their six-figure salaries depend.
HHS: New HAI Targets for 2020
This October, the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) announced ambitious, new targets for reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, and ambulatory surgical centers.
Payers and Providers Overcome Distrust to Create Quality Improvement Partnerships
Historically, insurers and healthcare providers haven’t had the most harmonious relationship. Competing business interests typically left representatives from each industry on opposite sides of the table.
Deadly Superbug Linked to Four Deaths in The U.S.
A deadly new drug-resistant fungus has been linked to the deaths of four hospital patients in the U.S., according to a report released Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The fungus, called Candida auris, preys on the sickest patients and can spread in hospitals.
Top 10 Health Technology Threats and Hazards
ECRI Institute engineers, scientists, clinicians, and other patient safety analysts rank the top technology-related threats that healthcare providers are likely to encounter in the coming year.
The Joint Commission and HFAP Start Surveying to The 2012 Life Safety Code®
As of November 1, CMS, The Joint Commission, and HFAP will be surveying hospitals to the 2012 Life Safety Code® (LSC). The LSC was adopted by CMS in June, with some of the big changes required under the final rule including: Facilities located in buildings taller than 75 feet are required to install automatic sprinkler … Continued
Amid Technological and Cultural Barriers, Patient-Reported Outcomes Poised to Make a Splash
A quality measurement that focuses on patient symptoms and overall quality of life if poised to take on a greater role in patient safety. In some parts of the country, it already has.
Opioid Crisis Response: ERs Launch Treatment Programs
Efforts go beyond treatment to recovery and ERs are increasingly offering patients who seek help for overdoses additional resources for drug addiction and recovery therapies.
FDA Faults 12 Hospitals for Failing to Disclose Injuries, Deaths Linked to Medical Devices
Federal regulators said 12 U.S. hospitals, including well-known medical centers in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, failed to promptly report patient deaths or injuries linked to medical devices.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicly disclosed the violations in inspection reports this week amid growing scrutiny of its ability to identify device-related dangers and protect patients from harm.
Cyberattack That Shut Down Internet Traffic Is a Wakeup Call to Hospitals
A massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack crippled New Hampshire-based Dyn, one of the major domain name system hosts that monitors and reroutes internet traffic, October 21 and raised concerns about the healthcare industry’s ability to function in the face of a widespread outage.