By instituting a screening program for patients, the Louisville (Ky.) Veterans Affairs Medical Center has drastically reduced MRSA infections at its facility.
A new study found that improving infection control protocols in intensive care units would have a major impact on reducing healthcare-acquired infections.
In case hospitals weren’t devoting enough attention to preventing central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), The Joint Commission has released a new toolkit to equip hospital leaders, managers, and frontline caregivers with easy-to-use tools for safely inserting, maintaining, and...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 25, Issue 2
Last month, we began our review of the year's most-cited Joint Commission standards by discussing the top 10 most challenging issues of 2013. This month, we continue our analysis and look at the remaining most-cited standards for 2013 so far, led by BOJ advisor Jodi Eisenberg, MHA, CPHQ, CPMSM...
Fill in the blank: Hospitals have an obligation to investigate outbreaks of infectious disease. They also have a responsibility, as required by law and regulation, to report that information to ____________.
Central line infections still plague hospitals. Reducing them is a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG.07.04.01) and they represent a CMS "never event" that is reported publicly on its Hospital Compare website. Unfortunately, central lines are necessary,...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 24, Issue 11
Think back to your last visit to a hospital as a patient or family member. Every patient care area has recognizable, ubiquitous items, such as automated blood pressure pumps, compression pumps, and IV pumps. But how do you know if those items were cleaned and/or disinfected? Were they used with...
Research findings call on hospital leaders to take a deeper look at how staff—primarily nurses—interact with patients, to determine a way for patients at highest risk for infection to come into contact with fewer workers.
