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The Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) a joint effort of the American Hospital Association and the Health Research and Educational Trust released its annual report last month, showing some slow progress on key quality metrics, but a lack of progress on many of the goals touted by the organization.
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Sometimes the best lessons come when things do not work out as planned. Nathan Rozeboom, RN, MPH, CCRN, a nurse manager at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, learned that in the aftermath of a project for his master's degree three years ago. At the time, he was assistant manager in a neuro intensive care unit.
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On January 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a delay until Oct. 1, 2014, in post-payment Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) audits of hospital admissions to determine compliance with the contentious "two midnight" rule.
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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a three-fold increase in the use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) nationally for patients with pancreatic disease. Although adaptation of MIS for this difficult-to-reach gland is recent, the growing trend points to improved patient outcomes, such as reduced bleeding and infections.
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As a result of an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into a recent outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL, changed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) endoscope reprocessing from automated high-level disinfection to gas sterilization in September 2013.
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Eight-three hospitals in the Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Falls Reduction and Prevention Collaboration were given two tools to evaluate their falls prevention programs. Those tools, provided by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, were a self-assessment survey and a process measures audit.
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In a move to reduce healthcare-associated infections, certain attire for healthcare professionals, including the traditional white coat, could become a thing of the past.
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Making decisions, while done daily, and often hourly, is difficult for many professionals. While not everyone endorses the following statement, I firmly adhere to it personally and professionally: "A bad decision is better than no decision." My rationale is that you learn from making decisions, good and bad.
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The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has adopted a final recommendation to freeze payments for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) under Medicare prospective payment systems (PPSs) for 2015, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA).