Be afraid, be very afraid…but do it anyway!
By Steve MacArthur, Hospital Safety Consultant
Something of a mixed bag this week: Basically a couple of brief items with some interpolative commentary.
First off, in what is probably not really a surprise, the feds have not updated the status of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) (here’s the most recent correspondence in this regard) in a little bit, but I am hopeful that our sprint towards the New Year will prompt a revisitation. I guess one of the key thoughts moving forward is at what point are regulatory surveys impacted. It would seem that we are in a bit of a spike in cases (though how one can tell definitively is something of an art form), based on the information provided to folks traveling in and out of Massachusetts (which would include yours truly). While I can’t say that I’m getting used to being swabbed, I suspect that between now and Christmas, I’ll have a few more opportunities to embrace the swab.
At any rate, I’d be curious as to how folks are “falling” within their normal accreditation survey cycle. Early? Late? Pretty much on time? At some point, something’s going to have to give (and maybe that something involves virtual building tours and the like). I guess at this point all we can do is “stay the course,” and wait for the vaccine distribution challenge (we know it’s coming sometime)…
In other news, our friends in Chicago announced a revision to one of the performance elements dealing with the life safety implications of maintaining fire suppression systems. You might recall we chatted a bit about this back at the beginning of July, at least in terms of the whole spare sprinkler thang. If you accept (as I pretty much have at this point) that any change to a physical environment standard or performance element is “designed” to provide an opportunity for generating more findings (the sterling being the impending focus on the ambulatory care environments), then I think it would be prudent to really kick the tires on your spare sprinkler maintenance program to ensure that you are meeting not just the requirements of the revised performance element, but also the other related requirements. (The blog post above should serve as a good starting point, if you are so inclined.)
As always, please be well and stay safe. I appreciate everything you are and everything you do!
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 the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.