Joint Commission “R3 Report” Explains New Clinical Alarm National Patient Safety Goal
The Joint Commission recently released an “R3 Report” for the new National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) that requires accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals to improve the safety of their clinical alarm systems. “R3 Report” provides accredited healthcare organizations and interested healthcare professionals in-depth information about the rationale and references that were employed in the development of the new alarm NPSG.
ECRI Institute Releases New Safety Guidance for Patients and Caregivers Using Home Infusion Technology
Home infusion improves quality of life for individuals requiring extended infusion therapy, but caregivers must take some precautions to minimize risk. To help patients and caregivers improve safety when using medical technology in the home, ECRI Institute and The Healthcare Technology Foundation, have created a free informational video and patient guide entitled “Home Infusion: A Safety Guide for Patients and Caregivers.”
Joint Commission Alert: Preventing Retained Surgical Items
The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert urging hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to take a new look at how to avoid mistakenly leaving items such as sponges, towels, and instruments in a patient’s body after surgery.
Joint Commission Alert: Medical Device Alarm Safety in Hospitals
The constant beeping of alarms and an overabundance of information transmitted by medical devices such as ventilators, blood pressure monitors and ECG (electrocardiogram) machines is creating “alarm fatigue” that puts hospital patients at serious risk, according to a Sentinel Event Alert issued by The Joint Commission.
IOM Committee Releases Observations on Modifications to Medicare Payments
Providing higher Medicare payment rates to hospitals and clinicians in regions of the country characterized by good health outcomes and relatively lower spending and decreasing payment rates in regions with overall lesser quality and higher spending would not give providers the incentive to deliver care more efficiently, according to an Institute of Medicine committee studying the issue.
CRICO Challenges EMR Complacency
CRICO, the patient safety and medical professional liability company serving the Harvard medical community, has produced a video that puts forth a future vision of how Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) might be embedded into the physician workflow in a manner that would improve health care delivery.
Joint Commission Seeks Comments on Goals for Alarm Management
Through February 26, The Joint Commission is seeking comments about a proposed National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) on management of alarms.
Does CMS Proposed Measure for PCA Safety Go Far Enough?
This is the question that I have been asking myself ever since Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced proposed quality measures it is considering for adoption through rulemaking for the Medicare program. One of the measures under consideration by CMS (proposed quality measure #3040) calls for “appropriate monitoring of patients receiving PCA [patient-controlled analgesia].”
The Joint Commission Publishes Patient and Worker Safety Monograph
The Joint Commission recently released a free monograph, “Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation,” to draw attention to the need to create a culture that focuses on both the safety of patients and the health care workers who care for them.