Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act, which targets several reimbursement issues in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.
Joint Commission surveys will include requirements from the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 2012 Life Safety Code® (LSC) starting in November. CMS had adopted the 2012 LSC in May with The Joint Commission following suit in early June.
At the American Pain Society’s (APS) 35th Annual Scientific Meeting, researchers unveiled a new screening tool for opioid abuse risks that involves asking patients one question
Despite the efforts of CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services, the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) is on the rise. Between 2009 and 2013, infections linked to catheters increased by 6%, which has spurred The Joint Commission to create a new National...
Released late last month, the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Antibiotic Stewardship in Acute Care: A Practical Playbook is broken into five core elements focused on proper antibiotic usage: Leadership commitment, accountability, drug expertise, action, and tracking.
Between 2010 and 2014, preventable patient harm has been reduced by 39%, or 2.1 million fewer patients harm. This accounts for the saving of 87,000 lives and $20 billion, says CMS Acting Administrator Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, and is an unprecedented step forward in patient safety.
In April, a Pennsylvania patient was being treated for a urinary tract infection when her physicians discovered she had a strain of colistin-resistant E. coli. The discovery means an antibacterial-resistance exists for every type of antibiotic, creating the risk of an infection invulnerable to...
