Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery
Be Prepared: Anticipating Pediatric Emergencies in Ambulatory Surgery
Hunterdon Center for Surgery (a partner of Hunterdon Healthcare) provides patients with a convenient location for same-day surgical procedures. The facility mirrors the look and comfort of a typical doctor’s office, yet its four operating rooms house the same sophisticated medical equipment found at Hunterdon Medical Center
Clinical Trial Results Demonstrate Copper Reduces MRSA & VRE in Hospital Rooms
Recent clinical tests demonstrate that antimicrobial copper is
effective in significantly reducing the bacterial load in intensive
care unit (ICU) patient rooms and on many individual objects in those
rooms.
Studies Show Significant Increases of C. Difficile Infections (CDI)
Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) are quickly becoming a
significant issue in healthcare based upon recent studies. Preliminary
data collected from nursing homes and highlighted in a Supplementary
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory shows that almost 40 percent of
gastrointestinal infections reported are CDIs.
Physician-led Initiative to Improve Healthcare Quality Marks 10-Year Anniversary
Celebrating its 10 year anniversary at its meeting in the nation’s
capital, the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance
Improvement (PCPI) highlighted its achievements to date and took a
proactive look at future efforts to measure and improve the quality of
patient care.
Joint Commission Approves Revised Medical Staff Bylaws Standard MS.01.01.01
The Joint Commission announced the approval of revisions to Medical
Staff Standard MS.01.01.01, formerly known as MS.1.20, that is designed
to contribute to patient safety and quality of care through the support
of a well-functioning, positive relationship between a hospital’s
Medical Staff and Governing Body.
AHRQ: Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections
AHRQ
Initiating Promising Solutions and Expanding Proven Ones
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are on everyone’s hit list, as they should be, because no patient should get sicker from a preventable infection they pick up in a hospital or other healthcare facility.
Documentation: The Clinical Integration Specialist
Documentation
The Clinical Integration Specialist: Improving Patient Care in the Energency Department
In an article posted to the Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare blog (Weygandt, 2009), we addressed a critical function for patient safety and quality: accurately communicating clinical information in real time by incorporating the clinical documentation specialist (CDS) as a key member of the clinical team.
Editor’s Notebook: Scale
Editor’s Notebook
Scale
My email and Twitter accounts are full of news about Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW; March 7–13), which has been sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) since 2002. In an interview with Heather Comak of HealthLeaders Media, NPSF President Diane Pinakiewicz explains that the purpose of PSAW is “…to provide a week not just for heightened awareness about patient safety, but very specifically a focus on the role of the patient and consumer in the work.”
EMR Implementation: Building a Team of Informaticists
EMR Implementation
Building a Team of Informaticists
In “Clinical Informatics and the CMIO” (PSQH 2010, Jan./Feb.), I discussed the importance of clinical informatics in institutions achieving their EMR implementation goals. I talked about why you can’t “just take the paper order set and make it appear on the screen” and how you should brace yourself for organizational change when you start doing electronic order entry.
Human Factors 101: Improve Reliability in Healthcare with Human Factors Engineering
Human Factors 101
Improve Reliability in Healthcare with Human Factors Engineering
Healthcare technology and training have advanced remarkably in the past 100 years, from the discovery of penicillin to the first heart transplant, but there is a downside to this progress. To quote Sir Cyril Chantler, former Dean of the Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas’ Medical and Dental Schools in London, “Medicine used to be simple, ineffective, and relatively safe. Now it is complex, effective and potentially dangerous.”