The Joint Commission Releases New Speak Up Infographic on Anesthesia and Sedation Safety
Nearly 40 million anesthetics are administered annually in the United States. To raise awareness of the risks of anesthesia or sedation and precautions that should be taken, The Joint Commission released a new Speak Up™ infographic for patients and consumers titled “Speak Up: About Anesthesia and Sedation.”
The UnSummit for Healthcare Barcoding Calls for Abstracts
Presentation abstracts for The UnSummit for Healthcare Barcoding, held September 18 – 20 in New Orleans, are due by June 10.
Disinfection Robot Improves Patient Safety and Prevents Infection
Palos Community Hospital has added TRU-D SmartUVC™ to its patient safety and infection control arsenal and will be using the UV disinfection robot in patient rooms as well as surgical suites to eliminate harmful pathogens after traditional cleaning routines are carried out.
Medical Recliners Help Healthcare Providers with New Care Act Requirements
Sometimes a chair is much more than a chair. Champion Manufacturing’s recliners have acquired added value for healthcare providers as they try to meet new standards of patient care created by the Affordable Care Act.
National Patient Safety Foundation Welcomes Betsy Lehman Center
The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, recently welcomed the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction as the newest member of the NPSF Stand Up for Patient Safety program. An independent agency within the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis, the Betsy Lehman Center is the first state agency to join the Stand Up program.
Louisiana’s Top-ranked Health System Adds to RL6 Patient Safety Software
RL Solutions, creators of healthcare quality and safety software, has announced that Ochsner Health System has successfully deployed RL6:Infection, RL’s infection surveillance system, throughout its eight facilities.
Common Vaccine Error Leaves Patients Unprotected
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has received frequent reports of errors involving vaccine administration to a patient where only one of two necessary vaccine components supplied is administered. These errors leave patients unprotected against serious and sometimes fatal communicable diseases.
Presidential Advisory Council Recommends Systems Engineering to Improve Healthcare
In a new report, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), recommends implementing a “systems engineering” approach to achieve lower cost and higher quality in healthcare.
Quality Initiative Focuses on Cellulitis and the Problem of Diagnostic Error
Cellulitis is a common infection that affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues and results in significant morbidity and associated healthcare costs. In fact, more than $3.7 billion were spent on 240,000 inpatient admissions for cellulitis in the United States in 2004 (Solucient, 2006). In addition to these costs, more than 14.5 million individuals were treated in offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and emergency departments for skin infections in 2005 (Hersh, Chambers, Maselli, & Gonzales, 2008).
Improving Safety and Quality with Best Practices: Focus on Central Venous Access
A recent CDC report found that 1 in 25 hospital patients develop healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). According to the report, about 75,000 of these patients die during their hospital stay.