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If a patient noticed a health care provider didn't wash his hands, or suspected she was being given an incorrect dosage of medication, would she hesitate to speak up about her concern?
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In an effort to clarify the requirements of its Universal Protocol, The Joint Commission has made several revisions and additions, effective Jan. 1, 2009.
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Health care-associated infections due to multiple drug-resistant organisms, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections. The Joint Commission's new National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) for 2009 require you to implement evidence-based practices to prevent all three of these.
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Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston have shown that using bar-code technology to augment the counting of surgical sponges during an operative procedure increases the detection rate of miscounted and/or misplaced sponges. Their research is published in the April 2008 issue of the Annals of Surgery.
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A growing number of organizations are disclosing errors to patients, but this can be disastrous if handled poorly.
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The national focus on patient-centered care isn't just about teaching patients to become more engaged in self-management of their careit also means putting patients on committees and advisory boards to participate in the process of developing quality programs.
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A total of five MRI-related cases have been reported to The Joint Commission's Sentinel Event database, resulting in four deaths, including one case caused by a projectile and three cardiac events. The other case involved a misread MRI scan that resulted in delayed treatment.
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Your hospital is likely in the process of implementing a rapid response team (RRT), if one is not already in place but the team is probably focused on adult care. Now a small but growing number of hospitals are implementing pediatric RRTs to improve the care of children.
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The quality of nursing care will have a much bigger impact on reimbursement than ever before, as a result of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) "no pay" conditions, according to a recent analysis.
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With ever-growing data collection requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission, health plans, and state hospital associations, how can quality professionals keep up without adding an army of data abstractors?