CMS’ State Operations Manual, Appendix A, offers interpretive guidelines for its own state surveyors and generally has been held as the guide for all the accrediting bodies. It outlines the tasks that accompany the survey process for hospitals, from off-site survey preparation to post-...
As CMS begins focusing more on emergency preparedness planning, review your hospital’s plans to ensure they include how the facility will handle a patient surge during civic unrest. Preparation for civic unrest unfortunately must be a part of any medical facility’s emergency planning, say...
You can never be too reliable, especially when you work in biosafety and handle hazardous chemicals all day. Becoming a high reliability organization (HRO) has been a goal of many hospitals and laboratories in recent years, but even those who achieve that status have to work to maintain it, says...
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the demand for registered nurses (RN) will increase on average by 193,100 annually. This demand will stretch over all aspects of nursing, from hospitals and outpatient care centers to rehabilitation facilities, surgery centers, and residential...
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...
Effective immediately, CMS says texting of patient information and of patient orders is permissible—with some caveats. In a memo to CMS state survey agency directors on February 8, CMS noted that due to technological advances in encryption and more secure interfaces between information...
Eyewash stations pose some of the most frequent problems during survey. But they don’t have to, says Richard L. Parker, CHFM, CLSS-HC, FACHE, FASHE, associate director of life safety and physical environment for the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). Ask yourself one key question:...
It is standard operating procedure (SOP) to have multiple SOPs in your laboratory or facility. SOPs cover everything from donning and doffing PPE to hand hygiene, the use of equipment, and the handling of hazardous or biohazardous materials. However, it’s important to remember that just because...
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).