Don’t get soaked by your water management program!

I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been finding the most interesting stuff being published in Perspectives are the articles entitled “Consistent Interpretation” because I am fascinated by the data they are collecting that drives taking particular note of the standard or performance element being featured. For example, the January 2020 issue covers the intricacies of managing the risks associated with waterborne pathogens, a topic that I’ve been keeping an eye on if only because of the attentions paid to that topic by our friends at CMS (if you’ve lost track of where they are in the fray, feel free to make the jump—but don’t forget to come back!). I figure there are just enough peculiarities involved for this to wreak some havoc during accreditation surveys, and while there are ways for survey findings to be generated, it would appear (based on the just under 4% citation rate during the first half of 2019) that you folks out there in the field are making pretty good headway.

So, where things can go awry include: Not having a water management plan to deal with waterborne pathogen risks (not sure how someone would have missed that, but perhaps it was a question of a slower than normal implementation track); failing to include a new piece of equipment (for instance, a brand new cooling tower) in the program (I should think the time for risk assessment and inclusion is during the commissioning of new equipment); failing to maintain the water in the system in accordance with the levels called for in the water management plan; failing to document scheduled testing and monitoring; and failing to establish acceptable ranges and/or control measures to be taken when levels are out of range.

It would seem that decorative water features, ice machines, and water dispensers were in the mix as well, including issues with equipment not being maintained in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions for use, but in looking at all the different ways water management concerns could be cited, I suspect a lot of the cited conditions (you can find more specifics in the January Perspectives) were not widely observed.

That said, since a lot of the nuts and bolts implementation of water management programs may be accomplished by “others,” I think that going forward, the surveyors will be especially attentive to reviewing your water management plan and any deliverables from testing and monitoring activities. There are a lot of moving parts in this endeavor; best to be ahead of the curve and keep a close eye on those reports.

About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is also a contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.