Field review on new IC standards closing on July 5

The window to comment on four new infection prevention and control standards currently in field review is closing.

CMS ordered all nine accrediting organizations (AO) to quit giving hospitals or other healthcare organizations even a 15-minute warning that surveyors will be onsite, and there will be no more blackout dates.

To improve the hospital’s CMS stars ranking, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens set a clear vision and the goal of wanting to be a regional center of excellence, says Chief Medical Officer Amir Jaffer, MD, MBA.

EHR platforms are complex and costly and require a lot of planning to make sure they're a good fit for a health system. Here are 8 recommendations for organizations looking to transition from one EHR to another.

In reviewing the July issue of The Joint Commission’s Perspectives, the top story (if you will) deals with the ongoing reduction of standards and performance elements as we approach the Nirvana that is a direct reflection of the Conditions of Participation (CoPs—there’s probably a mantra that could be extracted for that).

Have a plan of action to correct as many deficiencies as possible before the survey team leaves your facility, recommends a compliance manager at a Midwest hospital that was surveyed earlier this spring.

A look this week at what CMS has targeted with Fire and Smoke Barriers, Essential Electrical Systems, Flammable and Combustible Storage, and Emergency Lighting.

“Folks ended up installing additional dispensers wherever they felt the need—some of which made sense, some of which, not so much—and had as much on hand as they could get ahold of. Lots of folks ended up obtaining hand sanitizer from local distillers who weren’t making hooch for internal consumption, so they started making sanitizer,” MacArthur says.

As a lab safety professional, it can be frustrating to see safety issues go unattended, especially after they have been reported. The apparent roadblocks to solutions may be a lack of funds, busy or disinterested leadership, or even a poor culture of safety. There are steps you can take, however, to help you move around roadblocks and drive those unattended safety issues toward a solution.