Hospital Becomes First in New England to Implement Electronic Hand Hygiene Monitoring
DebMed, creator of the world’s first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, has announced that Cooley Dickinson Hospital has become the first in the New England region to implement the DebMed® GMS™ electronic hand hygiene monitoring system.
Ultrasound Gel and Infections: Researchers Propose Guidelines to Reduce Risk
In the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, guidelines have been proposed by epidemiologists from Beaumont Health System to reduce the risk of infection from contaminated gels.
Patient Empowerment Possible Tool to Raise Hand Hygiene Behaviors
According to a study published recently, most patients at risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) agree that healthcare workers should be reminded to wash their hands, but little more than half would feel comfortable asking their physicians to wash.
Editor’s Note: ‘Let’s Improve Our Way Out of This Mess’
Even at times of highest stress and acrimony during the recent political campaign, there were pockets of optimism within the medical community about our ability to solve the country’s healthcare problems. I’ve written about this refreshing and unexpected optimism before, following last year’s IHI National Forum. I ran into it again recently, not surprisingly, with Don Berwick, MD, who was the closing keynote speaker at the Pega Collaborative Healthcare Summit in Boston last month.
Change in Labeling for Total Strength of Heparin to Help Minimize Medication Errors
To address safety concerns about the expression of drug strength on labels for heparin sodium injections and heparin lock flush solutions, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has revised its current standards for these products.
ECRI Institute Releases Top 10 Health Technology Hazards Report for 2013
While today’s health technology advances provide countless new ways to improve patient care, some also create new opportunities for harm. And with the evolution of healthcare information technology systems such as electronic health records (EHRs), there’s a growing level of complexity and opportunity for error.
Draft National Safe Patient Handling Standards Released for Comment
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has released draft Safe Patient Handling and Mobility National Standards to a broad array of professions and individuals for public comment, a critical step toward establishing a uniform, national foundation for programs to improve safety for patients and health care workers. The public comment period is open through Nov. 30.
Missouri Center for Patient Goes National
Patient safety is an ever increasing focal point for improving efficacy and efficiency in the U.S. healthcare system, across all provider settings. Now the Missouri Center for Patient Safety (MOCPS) is poised to share its mission across the country.
MAeHC Participates in Successful Massachusetts HIWay Kick-Off
The Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC), a non-profit pioneer and leader in healthcare delivery through health information technology, announced it participated in the official launch of the statewide healthcare information exchange, known as the Massachusetts Health Information Highway (HIway).
New AHRQ Tool Assesses Patient Safety Culture in Pharmacies
AHRQ has released the Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture and a free toolkit of materials that helps community pharmacies assess their culture of patient safety.