The Joint Commission took a giant step forward in 2009 when it began to include the D icon next to the elements of performance (EP) that require documentation. This ended the long debate over whether a particular EP was required to have documentation support. However, the new icon fails to...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 9
Hospitals have multiple options when it comes time to undergo their PPR. The most extensive option, an on-site visit from The Joint Commission, is the most extensive, with the option to treat the PPR as a full-blown mock survey.
A new report released by The Leapfrog Group shows that computer physician order entry (CPOE) systems can potentially miss half of routine medication orders and one-third of potentially fatal medication orders.
The report is based on a study of 214 hospitals that tested their CPOE...
After The Joint Commission released its National Patient Safety Goal concerning handoff communication in 2005, staff at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s) spent plenty of time and effort convincing staff that the issue was an important one. As a result, the hospital standardized its...
Prior to 2005, the catheterization lab at Mercy Des Moines (IA)–Mercy Heart Hospital (MDM) had a team responsible for manual inventory of 2,200 medical items per day. This task was not only time-consuming, but it also put patients at high risk of coming in contact with an expired medical item...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 9
Are you confident enough about your Joint Commission survey results to post them online? Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston did. Luckily, the survey turned out to be one of its best inspections ever, according to Kent B. Lewandrowski, MD, associate professor at Harvard Medical...
I was always certain that my career in patient safety would be in the delivery sector, in health systems, hospitals, or clinics—settings in which clinicians and patients interact. Based on time spent as a frontline staff member and later as a leader in patient safety, I was sure that this was...
