Is Your Hospital Discharge Planning Failing Patients?
An estimated one in five hospitalized patients are discharged to post-acute care settings such as skilled nursing facilities or long-term care hospitals.
Nurse Stressors: It’s Not Just Patient Volume and Acuity
Researchers at The Ohio State University found that a nurse’s “subjective workload”—which could include everything from the mental pressures of the job to relentless time constraints—affects her or his ability to provide optimal care, no matter how many patients they’re attending.
Hazardous Pharmaceuticals Management Rule May Be Imminent
If published, the rule joins other new standards and regulations targeting employee and patient safety during the use and handling of hazardous pharmaceuticals. It’s also expected to have significant impact on hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
Mystery Still Swirling Around Acute Flaccid Myelitis
The rare neurological disorder—less than 1 in a million Americans contract AFM annually—mimics polio with weakness in one or more limbs. Some patients have recovered quickly. Paralysis has persisted in others.
Biased Against Accredited Hospitals? Joint Commission Refutes Study
The Joint Commission contends that the study drew invalid conclusions by trying to compare “two radically different groups of hospitals” resulting in a bias against accredited hospitals.
CMS Announces Opportunities to Expand Mental Health Treatment
CMS reached out to state Medicaid directors to outline existing and new opportunities, including a new chance for states to receive authority to pay for short-term residential treatment services in an institution for mental disease for these patients.
CDC Highlights Antibiotic Awareness Week
At least 30% of the antibiotics in U.S. outpatient settings are prescribed unnecessarily, according to the CDC. Annually, at least 2 million people become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and 23,000 people die as a result.
Massachusetts Voters Say ‘No’ to Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios
For months, the law has been hotly debated. Those in favor said it would improve patient safety and care. Those opposed said it didn’t account for patient acuity and would create a financial burden on hospitals and healthcare systems.
CMS Extends Time to Finalize Discharge Planning Proposal
CMS took the unusual step on October 30 of announcing a year’s time extension to publish the final rule. The extension runs through November 3, 2019.
Tapping Patient Engagement to Reduce Diagnostic Errors
The research features an examination of 184 narratives from patients or family members about diagnostic errors collected in a new database maintained by the Empowered Patient Coalition.