There always seems to be a lot of interest in how folks manage conditions in the environment, particularly how “other” folks are managing conditions in the environment. Clearly, the interest in all this is being reinforced on a regular basis by the accreditation organizations’ focus on the...
In an interesting update, our friends from Chicago have updated the requirements for managing trash (heretofore identified as: The hospital has procedures for the proper routine storage and prompt disposal of trash) to widen the scope a wee bit to requiring hospitals to have procedures for the...
While most of the time your Emergency Power Supply System (EPSS) stands by to provide coverage in the event of a power outage/disruption, as most of you know, it takes a lot of care and feeding (so to speak) to ensure that your EPSS is ready to go to work at a moment’s notice—or less. There is...
Recently, the good folks at ECRI revealed their report on the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2024. I don’t know that anyone would be surprised at what made the list, though I am surprised that one consideration did not show up (more on that in a moment).
Over time, I’ve spoken a fair amount about the work of Matt Freje and the folks at HCInfo in improving the approaches to the management of risks associated with water systems. They’ve been leading the charge in this area for as long as I can remember, and they...
One of the many lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is that medical gas system capacity is an important consideration. I suspect a lot of folks are giving serious consideration to how best to shore up (and build upon) existing oxygen capacity, in the event that there is another...
Well, not strictly speaking—I’m pretty sure we’ve been working on preparedness in the ambulatory care settings for a while now. I suspect that this is more of a recalibration to ensure that all applicable elements of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Final Rule are clearly accounted for in all the...
As we continue our crawl through The Joint Commission standards changes, let’s drop in on the changes in the Infection Control chapter. Although the changes aren’t necessarily pointed at the physical environment, there’s a whole lot of content that can—and likely will—be applied to how things...
As recently announced, effective July 1, 2024, organizations using The Joint Commission (TJC) for their accreditation are required to adopt a number of specific elements to be included in their workplace violence programs.
