You have to know where you shut them off—make sure you label those shutoff valves!
That’s one of the pearls of wisdom dispensed during the most recent Executive Briefings by our friends in Chicago. It appears that there’s been a run on unlabeled shutoff valves during this year’s surveys,...
I apologize for not pushing this out a few weeks earlier than now—I’m writing this a few days after Daylight Savings Time, so my brain is wonky and erasing my thoughts like an Etch A Sketch (you all know about that, yes? If not, this will...
I will admit that I’ve been sitting on this one for a couple of months as I have no interest in sensationalizing any acts of violence, even inadvertently. But it also seems like not too much time passes before firearm violence (yet again) makes front page news, so I guess this topic may be more...
I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks scrambling up and down ladders while engaged in a focused above-the-ceiling life safety compliance assessment. The experience gave me time to think about one of the basic tenets (at least, for me) of managing the physical environment, which I will...
This week brings us something of a mixed bag, but I think the two articles speak to the heart of how our management of the healthcare physical environment informs everything that goes on around and in it. I have consistently maintained (small pun intended) that pretty much everything in...
For those of you keeping tabs on the regulatory landscape, you might already know that the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has initiated a new standard—ST108—that defines levels of water quality suitable for various stages of medical device processing, with the...
If one were to ponder the most complicated undertakings in the world of healthcare, I believe that effective management of mental/behavioral health would be very close to the top of that list. I can say from personal experience that some amazing improvements have been made over the last 20-30...
Recently, I’ve seen some survey activity that prompts me to chat a little bit about essential electrical systems (EES) and to provide you with a source of information in that regard. The survey findings have related to the connection of inappropriate equipment to a branch of the EES or an...
My good friend and esteemed colleague, Robert Vance III, has been working in the hospital environment for a fair number of years now. In working with Bob at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California, what has impressed me most is his thoughtful and measured approach to everything he...
One of the truisms of managing healthcare in current climes and times is the importance of creating environments that can withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (and we’ve certainly had more than our share of those). In looking back at the last five or so years, it is very clear...
