Take flu shots, for instance. How do you best ensure that you reach the optimal percentage of staff? How about an attention-grabbing catchphrase? At Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD, a new theme is introduced every year during flu...
Do you or your leadership team know how many quality improvement (QI) and performance improvement (PI) teams your organization currently has? Does your frontline staff know the organization’s strategic plan and vision? Do your middle managers have leadership training? Do all your PI teams report...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
Did you notice a significant change in the Universal Protocol™ (UP) recently? No? We’re not surprised. Most of us missed the fact that The Joint Commission removed the UP FAQs from its website. We’ve been told that there is no intention to re-post the FAQs, relying instead on the UP rationale...
Many of those who work in hospitals know there is always potential for staff to make mistakes, and that those mistakes might cause patient harm. Hospitals are constantly working toward better patient care, putting systems in place to ensure that clinicians double- and triple-check their work,...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
When addressing anesthesia and sedation guidelines, the best advice is not to follow the letter of the law, but to look more accurately at the intent of the requirements, Bud Pate, REHS, vice president of content and development of The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., in...
If you stay around long enough in this field, the issues just cycle back. This year in the annual Joint Commission Executive Briefings, the issue of standing orders once again was raised. MM.04.04.01, EP 1 defines standing orders as pre-written medication orders and specific instructions from...
Editor’s note: The following column explores patient safety from the perspective of a newcomer to the patient safety field. Columnist Catherine Hinz, MHA, currently works at PatientSafe Solutions, Inc. Previously, she served as the patient lead at HealthEast Care System...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
How quickly can you call up data on your nurses’ training and skill sets?
Midland (TX) Memorial Hospital recently changed its process for tracking online training and demonstrated proficiencies among its nurses. The change has resulted in a real-time information tracking program that has...
