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.
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.
Study: 1 in 4 Healthcare Workers Lack Cybersecurity Training
The report’s findings uncover a stunning lack of cybersecurity training among healthcare workers, leaving healthcare information technology systems—and electronic protected health information—vulnerable at a time when the healthcare sector leads all other industries in cybersecurity breaches.
FMH Reduces Sepsis Mortality by 65 Percent with MEDITECH
By: Debra O’Connell and Lauren Small US hospitals are challenged by evolving, and often disparate, sepsis guidelines, including the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, CMS SEP-1 Core Measure, and The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to sepsis care, Frederick Memorial Hospital designed a three-pronged strategy … Continued
Minority Women More Likely to Die from Pregnancy-Related Complications
The disparity worsens as the women age, CDC found. Pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births were four to five times higher for black and American Indian / Alaska Native women age 30 or older than for white women of the same age.
Many Hospital ERs Lagging in ‘Pediatric Readiness’
According to a new study, critically ill children brought to hospital EDs that aren’t prepared to care for pediatric emergencies face more than three times the odds of dying compared to children brought to hospitals well-equipped to care for them.