AHIMA Seeks Public Support for National Patient ID

By John Commins, HealthLeaders Media Advocates for a voluntary patient safety identifier envision a process that would allow patients to create a way for medical systems to recognize them quickly and accurately, in much the same way as financial sector businesses. A leading trade group for the nation’s health information technology sector is asking patients … Continued

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Joint Commission Releases 2015 Sentinel Event Stats

Last week, The Joint Commission released its sentinel event statistics from 2015. Of the 936 sentinel events reported last year, the most common were unintended retention of a foreign body (116), wrong-site/wrong-side/wrong procedure surgery (111), falls (95), and suicides (95). The most common root causes of sentinel events last year were human factors (e.g., staff … Continued

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Alarm Management Compliance Shifts into Second Gear

In the second phase of The Joint Commission’s alarm management NPSG, hospitals aim to put policy into practice For the last two years, healthcare organizations have been working to comply with the first phase of The Joint Commission’s alarm management National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG). As of January 1, 2016, they’ll have to contend with … Continued

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AHRQ releases new tool to reduce CAUTI

Building on its Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently released a new toolkit aimed at reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in hospitals. Released in October 2015, the toolkit consists of three modules: implementation, sustainability, and resources. Hospitals can use … Continued

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FDA: Top Three Duodenoscope Makers Release Updated Instructions

On February 19, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that reprocessing instructions for Pentax duodenoscopes had been validated and approved by the agency.  The announcement means that scopes from the three major manufactures, Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax, are now safe to use with their updated instructions. Five months ago, the FDA issued safety warning … Continued

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CMS Announces Standardized Quality Measures

CMS and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released seven quality measures yesterday that aim to reduce the cost of measuring clinical quality while supporting multi-payer alignment on core measures for physician quality programs.  The new measure sets will improve informed consumer decision-making, reduce variability in measure selection, collection burden, and cost, according to CMS. “In … Continued

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Prescriber Training in Medication Management Improves Outcomes, Enhances CMS Quality Metrics

By Gregory A. Hood, MD, MACP; and Lori Dickerson, PharmD, FCCP

Medication management learning-based training helped Quality Independent Physicians (QIP), an accountable care organization (ACO) composed of primary care practices throughout Kentucky and Indiana, decrease hospitalizations across all disease states by 26%. QIP saw a similar drop in admissions for high-risk disease states and a significant reduction in hospital readmissions. The organization’s medication management learning program proved effective in boosting these and other important Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality scores, while helping successfully manage key, at-risk patient populations.

With today’s emphasis on healthcare quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, we’re always looking for ways to improve. We needed a focused effort to leverage medications to their maximal benefits, while avoiding difficult and potentially devastating mistakes. Well-researched and timely medication recommendations, a commitment to creating and communicating standardized clinical practice guidelines, and an inclusive atmosphere that encouraged organization-wide clinician buy-in were essential to the program’s results.

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