Joint Commission Alert: Preventing Retained Surgical Items
The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert urging hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to take a new look at how to avoid mistakenly leaving items such as sponges, towels, and instruments in a patient’s body after surgery.
Intimidation Still a Problem in Hospital Workplace, ISMP Survey Shows
Recently released survey results from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) show that bullying, intimidation, and other types of disrespectful behavior remain a problem in the healthcare workplace, and continue to erode professional communication, which is essential to patient safety and quality.
Nation’s Emergency Physicians Announce List of Tests and Procedures to Question as Part of Choosing Wisely Campaign
Dedicated to reducing health care costs and improving patient care, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has announced a list of five tests and procedures that may not be cost effective in some situations and should prompt discussion with patients in order to both educate them and gain their agreement regarding avoidance of such tests and procedures, when appropriate. These recommendations are part of ACEP’s participation in the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign.
Social Technologies: Meeting the Challenges of Population Health
Social technologies offer powerful tools that can be applied in healthcare settings to improve the quality of care and patient safety, especially as the U.S. healthcare delivery system transforms to accommodate changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act and aging baby boomers.
Updating the Classics: Urgent Business Then and Now
From its early days in the 1980s and 90s, the patient safety movement has been blessed with high quality, accessible writing. Many of the early contributors—Michael Millenson, Bob Wachter, Atul Gawande, to name only a few—continue to contribute and update their research and reflections. Millenson and Wachter have recently commented on their earlier works and reflected on what if any progress they have seen over the years.
RF Technologies Releases Wireless Fall Management Alarm
RF Technologies, a leading provider of RFID healthcare safety and security solutions, has released a resident safety solution that combines fall management and wireless nurse call for added safety and simplified care.
Minnesota Hospitals Chosen to Further Expand Patient Safety and Quality Efforts
The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) has been awarded $4.5 million from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to further expand its work to enhance patient safety. The award was effective Sept. 26, 2013.
CareFusion Rolls Out Infusion Pump Interoperability Solution
CareFusion Corp., a leading, global medical technology company, has announced that Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has completed the rollout of an infusion pump interoperability solution at its Children’s – St. Paul Hospital campus.
Visiting Nurse Associations of America Offers Tool for Best Practices in Home Healthcare
With the launch of the VNNA Blueprint for Excellence, the Visiting Nurse Associations of America offers the home health industry, policymakers, payers, and others an invaluable tool to support better, safer and smoother care transitions.
D3O®-based Hip Protectors Offer New Standard of Care for Preventing Hip Fractures
Medical Protection Technologies will demonstrate its next-generation Fall-Safe® Hip Protectors at the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) Convention & Expo Oct. 6–9, 2013, in Phoenix (booth #1031). The advanced design and materials of Fall-Safe Hip Protectors reflect an important trend in the care of older adults—an emphasis on preventing the fracture, not just the fall.