Hospital
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Patient Watches Solve Safety Issue With Better Use of Resources
Hospitals often struggle with the need to provide close watch over a potentially dangerous patient without relying on skilled nurses or security officers who are needed elsewhere. Some hospitals are finding that a “patient watch” program is the right solution.
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Specialty Pharmacy Can Improve Quality, Increase Revenue
Hospitals are finding that specialty outpatient pharmacies can improve quality of care and patient safety and bring in additional revenue. The process can require significant resources, but the benefits may include a greater return on value-based contracts.
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DOJ Offers Guidance on Compliance Programs
Healthcare professionals involved in compliance programs have new guidance from the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, which recently issued a document that tells white-collar prosecutors how to evaluate compliance programs.
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Many Hospitals Not Complying With Leapfrog Never Events Policy
One-quarter of American hospitals do not meet The Leapfrog Group’s standard for addressing never events, according to a recent report.
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Several Common Features Form Foundation of Successful Quality Improvement Initiative
Regardless of the goal of a quality improvement project, most successful initiatives share common threads. These common factors should form the foundation of any quality improvement effort and help tailor how the effort is carried out.
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‘Nudge Unit’ Uses Behavior Design to Improve Quality, Patient Safety
A “nudge unit” at the University of Pennsylvania is helping bridge the gap between the study of human behavior and the practice of medicine, devising ways to improve quality of care and patient safety.
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Quantifying the Occupational Risk of Tuberculosis
The CDC published data on the level of tuberculosis in healthcare workers, which was used in part to support the recent recommendations to drop routine annual TB testing in the absence of an exposure or ongoing transmission. The epidemiology has shifted, with workers coming from countries endemic for TB much more likely to manifest later symptoms. Although it must be underscored that there still is TB in the United States, healthcare workers are not at the risk they once were.
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Healthcare Workers at Risk of Slips, Trips, and Falls
In a study that has implications for preventing slip injuries in healthcare, researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that wearing slip-resistant shoes dramatically reduced workers’ compensation claims for school food service workers. The study included some 17,000 food service workers from 226 school districts.
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WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak an International Emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared an international health emergency for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a case appeared in a highly populated city with global air travel. In declaring an international emergency, the WHO is calling for international aid and assistance while emphasizing that it would be counterproductive to shut down travel to the region.
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The Joint Commission: Preventing Nursing Burnout
The Joint Commission (TJC) has identified nurse staffing, recruitment, and retention as “priorities for further evaluation in the coming year” to prevent nursing burnout. TJC recently issued a Quick Safety alert, emphasizing that nursing burnout can worsen patient outcomes, including mortality. The report cited a 2017 literature review on preventing nursing burnout that identified six studies, representing 3,248 nurses worldwide. These studies revealed that the most common factors related to burnout are exclusion from the decision-making process, the need for greater autonomy, security risks, and staffing issues.