CMS Proposes Making Antibiotic Stewardship Programs Mandatory
Last week, CMS published a list of proposed rule changes for hospitals and laboratories. One of the more notable proposals would make antibiotic stewardship programs (ASP) mandatory. ASPs are considered a way to prevent antibiotic misuse and the spread of drug-resistant disease.
“We propose to change the introductory paragraph (in Infection Control Condition of Participation §482.42) to require that a hospital’s infection prevention and control of antibiotic stewardship programs be active and hospital wide for the surveillance, prevention, and control of HAIs and other infectious diseases, and for the optimization of antibiotic use through stewardship,” according to the proposed rule.
Putting New Strategies in Place to Decrease Workplace Violence
By Megan Headley
Incidences of workplace violence remain too high for the healthcare industry, despite increased attention on this issue. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that from 2002 to 2013 incidents of serious workplace violence were, on average, four times more common in healthcare than in private industry. In fact, data indicates that healthcare accounts for nearly as many serious violent injuries as all other industries combined.
“Too many healthcare workers face threats and physical violence on the job while caring for our loved ones,” commented the current assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, Dr. David Michaels, in a December 2015 news release on this topic. “It is not right that these valuable workers continue to be injured and sometimes killed on the job. Most of these injuries are preventable and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is providing … resources to help combat these incidents and raise awareness that violence does not need to be part of the job.”
Get Ready to MOON Your Patients!
The requirements of the NOTICE Act take effect on August 6.
By Timothy Kelly, MS, MBA
“They’ve ordered observation for Mr. Smith. Would you please MOON him?”
While that exchange may strike us as a joke today, it will likely become part of our accepted vernacular in just a couple of months. A MOON – Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice – is both a written document to be executed and also a conversation to be had with a patient. This new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) form is designed to meet the requirements set forth in the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act (the NOTICE Act).
VA Wants Full Practice Authority for Advanced Practice Nurses
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently filed a proposed rule to permit full practice authority of all VA advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). The proposed rule would establish additional professional qualifications an individual must possess to be appointed as an APRN within the VA. It would also subdivide APRNs into four separate categories that … Continued
Experts Outline Scope Reprocessing Enhancements to Reduce Infection Risks
In a recent ECRI webinar, experts discuss the eventual transition to sterilization.
Hospitals must implement additional measures to scope reprocessing procedures amid ongoing safety concern regarding instrumentation, according to patient safety experts. Anything less is unacceptable.
The advice came during a webinar in March hosted by the ECRI Institute entitled, “Endoscope Reprocessing: Are We Doing Enough to Protect Patients?”
Currently, there is no single, simple solution to ensure scopes are adequately reprocessed, but hospitals must identify and implement one of five existing enhanced reprocessing methodologies, according to William Rutala, MS, MPH, PhD. He is director of the hospital epidemiology, occupational health and safety program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Health Care System in Chapel Hill and director of the Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology at the UNC School of Medicine.
Infection Control
Some of the country’s healthcare facilities are in a war with killer robots, and the robots are winning. Luckily, the robots are on their side. While so-called “germ-zapping robots,” which use ultraviolet (UV) light technology to kill multidrugresistant organisms (MDRO), are being increasingly deployed by hospitals as part of infection control programs and Ebola response … Continued
To Do No Harm, Rethink How to Measure Hand Hygiene
By Paul Alper, BA Primum non nocere is a Latin phrase that means, “First, do no harm.” It is a precept taught to healthcare students around the world and paraphrased in the Hippocratic Oath. Unfortunately, a vast amount of avoidable harm still takes place in healthcare settings worldwide. The good news is that a new … Continued
Blood Clot Prevention Relies on Standardizing Best Practices Through Technology
Hospitals large and small share approaches to HA-VTE prevention through use of clinical decision-making tools, data analytics
In 2004, Greg Maynard, MD, MSc, SFHM, chief quality officer at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento, began working on deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). More than 12 years and one nationally recognized implementation guideline later, his hospital system is one of the leaders in preventing healthcare-associated venous thromboembolism (HA-VTE).
The University of California’s Center for Health Quality and Innovation is one of eight healthcare facilities recognized by the CDC for its work in preventing HA-VTE, more commonly known as blood clots. According to the CDC, VTE impacts as many as 900,000 patients each year, leading to 100,000 premature deaths and adding as much as $10 billion in healthcare costs.
Award Recognizes Excellence in Patient and Family Engagement
IORA Health and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Patient and Family Experience Team and Outpatient Clinical Service Leadership were the winners of the third annual John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement at the National Patient Safety Foundation’s (NPSF) 18th Annual Patient Safety Congress last month in Scottsdale, Arizona. Iora Health was … Continued
Massachusetts Alliance Previews Study Results, Shares Resources at Annual CARe Forum
“Meaningful improvement only occurs when you normalize honesty.”
—Rick Boothman
As the executive director of clinical safety and chief risk officer at the University of Michigan Health System, Rick Boothman, JD, works with patients, families, clinicians, and staff members following cases of medical injury. Boothman started a program at Michigan in July 2001 that established honesty and respect as ground rules for communication, apology, and resolution of cases that traditionally have been ignored, shunned, or—when the subject of malpractice complaints—denied and defended.
Boothman was the closing speaker at the fourth annual forum of the Massachusetts Alliance for Communication and Resolution following Medical Injury (MACRMI), held at the offices of the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) in April. The founders of MACRMI were inspired by Boothman’s “Michigan model” and a handful of other programs across the country dedicated to offering open communication, apology, and fair compensation to patients and families harmed by medical care (Beaulieu, 2012). These programs also treat clinicians and staff members with compassion and often offer them emotional support, recognizing that healthcare workers may be traumatized by adverse events involving patients.
“Meaningful improvement only occurs when you normalize honesty.”