Sealed Air Corporation has announced its participation in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) platform. As part of this major initiative, Sealed Air will bring the expertise of its Diversey brand portfolio together with leading healthcare professionals to promote best practices in hand hygiene for healthier patient care environments.

The Case Management Society of America (CMSA), the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, Inc. (ABQAURP) and several co-sponsors are pleased to announce the release of the third bi-annual Health Information Technology (IT) Survey.

Transitions of Care is defined as the movement of patients from one practice setting to another. Transitions happen when moving from one care provider to another, changing the health care setting, or even moving to another level of care within the same setting. During these transitions, poor coordination between providers, patients, and caregivers can lead to medical errors, bad outcomes, and even life-threatening situations.

Medication mishaps are the most common errors in healthcare. Indeed, medication errors represent the most frequently reported events submitted to ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization (PSO)—comprising about 30% of all events.

The Federal Communications Commission has advanced its wireless health care agenda by adopting rules that will enable Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs), low-power wideband 
networks consisting of multiple body-worn sensors that transmit a variety of patient data to a control device. MBAN devices free patients from cumbersome cables that tether them to their hospital bed. MBANs provide a cost effective way to monitor every patient in a healthcare institution, so clinicians can provide real-time and accurate data, allowing them to intervene and save lives.

Communication and collaboration are critical elements of success for effective work environments, particularly in health care. When these elements break down, the result can be a cascade of negative events. Yet when collaboration is strong, it reaps positive benefits on the workplace culture and patient outcomes.

Smiths Medical, a leading global medical device manufacturer, announced on April 23 that its ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and can be marketed in the United States.

The National Quality Forum (NQF) Board of Directors has endorsed two measures that address all-cause unplanned readmissions in hospitals – an area of healthcare targeted for improvement given national imperatives to make healthcare safer, more affordable, and keep people healthy.