Patient safety has been a pressing issue in healthcare since 1999, with the publication of the landmark report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Despite two decades of attention, estimates of annual patient deaths due to medical errors have risen steadily to as many as 440,000 lives, a figure that was reported in the Journal of Patient Safety in 2013.
While the primary risk is from close contact with bodily fluids, including contaminated linens, “because of the theoretical risk of airborne transmission of monkeypox virus, airborne precautions should be applied whenever possible,” said the CDC. “If a patient presenting for care at a hospital or other health care facility is suspected of having monkeypox, infection control personnel should be notified immediately.”
The Acute Hospital Care at Home program was developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reduce expensive hospitalizations and give patients the opportunity to receive care at home. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to launch these programs by CMS waivers enacted during the COVID-19 public health emergency that boost reimbursements and reduce barriers on the use of telehealth and other services.
As a critical shortage in imaging contrast continues to impact healthcare organizations across the nation, The Joint Commission (TJC) has issued guidance about shortage management and conservation.
Data is available in many forms from many sources, but it needs to be collected and organized in a way that turns it into actionable information. That is the challenge and the opportunity for healthcare IT and providers: to collaboratively assemble the right, easy-to-use systems for data collection and analysis while maximizing benefits and minimizing the headaches of manual processes.
On episode 53 of PSQH: The Podcast, Crystal Glover, education consultant and professional development practitioner at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, talks about how nurses are reacting to the RaDonda Vaught verdict and what it will mean for nursing in the future. This episode is presented by Capella University as part of National Nurses Week.
Written by a former airline pilot turned nurse and a patient safety expert, this practical resource offers solutions to managing longstanding challenges in patient care by applying the practices of crew resource management. This one-of-a-kind resource uses engaging case studies and real-life examples to provide a framework for improving communication and patient safety.
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