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With the elections over, the majority of the country has spoken. Like it or not, healthcare is going to irrevocably change in the United States. There are challenges to say the least, but there are also lots of opportunities for the U.S. healthcare industry as we start down this path.
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In what is getting to be a familiar, tragic refrain, the improper use of single-dose vials (SDVs) has resulted in pain clinic patients in Arizona and Delaware acquiring serious bacterial infections that were "completely preventable," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.
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Whether it's the smartphones, tablet computers, or e-readers, new technology is all the rage these days. At the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie, PA, this mobile technology is being used to help patients.
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The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) has announced an accreditation program that is tailored to the specific needs of practices that offer office-based surgery (OBS), and it is priced to be cost-effective for smaller practices. AAAHC defines an OBS center as an organization that has no more than four physicians/dentists and no more than two operating/procedure rooms.
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Outpatient surgery programs around the country are reporting that accreditation survey teams are sending an additional surveyor who targets infection control during the survey process.
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The SAFE CARE Patient Safety Education program uses free posters that healthcare facilities can hang in patient rooms or patient care areas that allow patients and families to instantly access and watch safety videos by topic.
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The National Quality Forum (NQF) board of directors has endorsed 14 patient safety measures with a focus on complications. The measures address a range of quality concerns, including surgical safety, medication safety, venous thromboembolism, and care coordination.
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The Joint Commission has updated its frequently asked question about non-licensed, non-employee individuals for the ambulatory, hospital, critical access hospital, and office-based programs, as well as home care, laboratory, and long-term care programs.
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The Joint Commission has released its seventh episode in the animated Speak Up video series, "Speak Up: Know Your Rights." The new video features characters as they depict the rights every patient should expect from their caregivers.
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Brace for millions of more patients. With the recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared a path for most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to proceed, you might see a measurable increase in surgery patients as early as next year and continuing through the end of the decade, predicts the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).
