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The National Cholesterol Education Programs (NCEP) clinical practice guidelines on cholesterol management have been updated to set even lower treatment goals for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol for patients at high and moderately high risk for a heart attack. The guidelines, for example, offer a new therapeutic option for very high-risk patients to achieve levels of less than 70 mg/dL.
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Health care providers now have another choice of cholesterol-lowering treatments. The FDA recently approved the combination of two cholesterol drugs, ezetimibe (Zetia) and simvastatin (Zocor), into a single pill. The product is being marketed under the name Vytorin. It is administered as a once-daily tablet and should be taken in the evening with or without food.
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If you were expecting cookie-cutter questions followed by rote responses during your next survey from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, think again. Instead, surveyors will arrive armed with detailed information that puts a spotlight on your biggest problem areas, according to accreditation experts interviewed by Hospital Peer Review.
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Two things are certain: The Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations newly revised medication management standards will be a key area of focus during surveys, and complying with the new requirements will call for sweeping changes throughout your organization.
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This is the first in a two-part series on preventing employees from harming patients intentionally. This month, we cover how to track deaths and improve communication with human resources. Next month, well give step-by-step instructions to prevent problem employees from being hired and tips for encouraging staff to share their concerns.
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Health care delivery has grown more sophisticated and complex in response to changing patient needs and emerging technologies.
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After experiencing a recent pilot survey for
the new Shared Visions New Pathways Accreditation Process, staff at Wallingford, CT-based Masonic Healthcare Center gave glowing reports. There really were no surprises encountered during this survey, says Arthur E. Santilli, MS, MPH, CHE, president.
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When it came to streamlining the way patients, referring physicians, and other interested parties contact Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA, for various access-related services, it seems that one good idea led to another.
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In just two short years, the Jefferson Regional Medical Center Wound Care Center in Jefferson Hills, PA, has achieved impressive net revenues and recorded a healing rate nearly twice as fast as that achieved through conventional wound care.