Two Florida Hospitals Evacuate All Patients After Hurricane Damage
Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City is evacuating more than 200 patients, while Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center in Panama City released a statement Thursday that it was evacuating about 130 patients.
How to Avoid Medication Errors in Hospitals
The guidelines, which are targeted at health system and hospital settings, are designed to give pharmacists ground rules and best practices to improve patient safety and avoid medication errors.
Increased CMS Oversight Puts Pressure on AOs to Spot Problems
In a new report to Congress, CMS says the disparity rate between serious problems identified by the AOs and those found by CMS surveyors within 60 days of survey was 46% in fiscal year 2016, up from 38% and 39%, respectively, in the two preceding fiscal years.
CMS to Increase Oversight of Accreditation Organizations
CMS wants to put a stronger spotlight on times when The Joint Commission and other accreditation organzations fail to find patient safety problems later discovered by CMS survey teams conducting performance checks referred to as validation surveys.
Assaults Against ER Physicians and Staff Rising
In a survey conducted for the American College of Emergency Physicians, a majority of the 3,539 doctors polled said they had been the victims of workplace violence recently.
Hackers, Mattresses, Retained Sponges Top ECRI Health Tech Hazards List
Ranked by which risks should receive the highest priority, the list compiled by ECRI’s Health Devices Group positions the threat of hackers targeting remote access to healthcare systems as the most pressing.
Last Flu Season Led to 80,000 Deaths
Over the last several flu seasons, coverage among children aged six months to 17 years has remained steady but fallen short of national public health goals, which are 80%.
Florida Health System Defends Its Handling of Nurse Accused of Raping 3 Patients
The system, which goes by Lee Health, has until September 28 to hand the records over to a patient who’s suing the organization for its failure to protect her from Jeovanni Hechavarria, RN, who allegedly raped her while she was admitted overnight at Cape Coral Hospital in 2016.
Hospitals Can Improve Their Infection Prevention Strategies, Study Finds
Published in the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s (SHEA) journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the study points out that hospitals can do much more to reduce infections.
Joint Commission Surveyor Focus Remains on EC, Life Safety, Ligature Risks
Officials highlighted the need for improved compliance with safety standards at The Joint Commission’s annual Hospital Executive Briefings held September 14 in New York City.