The importance of medication reconciliation is obvious. When taken together, certain medicine combinations can cause harmful effects. Therefore, keeping an updated record of all the medicines a patient is taking, and the dosage of each, is essential for their well-being.
CRM has two main parts. The first deals with teamwork and communication and covers the interpersonal and social aspects of the working environment. The second deals with human factors and situational awareness and entails understanding physical and cognitive...
After years of decline, 2020 and 2021 saw record rises in U.S. drug overdose deaths. In the 12-month period that ended in April 2021, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, an increase of nearly 30% from the prior year, according to provisional figures ...
Do you ever think about how you think, or come to conclusions, or make decisions? It’s a Philosophy 101 question, but in the healthcare context it means examining how we make assumptions, skip steps, ignore details, and use flawed reasoning when diagnosing or treating a patient. And all those...
As the COVID-19 pandemic rolls into its third year, many healthcare workers have had enough. Long hours, crushing workloads, and cultural tensions about vaccines and the virus have accelerated the number...
Real-time visibility into patient care beyond the acute care setting is more important than ever. Hospitals are more reliant on ambulatory care providers as part of the patient’s care journey, and the quality of patient outcomes depends on collaboration between hospitals, postacute providers,...
An estimated 47.9 million adults—more than 19% of the population—provide informal care for an adult in their lives. What goes on outside of the hospital or...
Well over 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, taking stock of lessons learned and next steps can be a challenge. The industry has encountered a lot in a very compressed time frame, so focusing on specific areas of success as well as ways to improve can help highlight the positive and provide a...
Sepsis is a problem that won’t go away. Globally, one in five deaths are caused by sepsis. In U.S. hospitals, sepsis is the leading cause of death and hospital readmissions. The condition...
The holidays are a stressful time for many people, even without the added burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), increased alcohol and substance use, and increased political polarization. A 2014 National Alliance on Mental Illness study showed...
