Unit-led Just-in-Time Coaching: Part of a Winning Strategy to Improve Hand Hygiene
As hospitals reopen services, patients are seeking assurances that their healthcare facility has made their personal well-being a priority from the moment they are admitted.
Protecting and Connecting Our Nation’s Healthcare Workforce
By M. Bridget Duffy, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Vocera Throughout the pandemic, many clinicians have described their experience with COVID-19 as a war with an invisible enemy. As I hear endless tragic stories and see many heart wrenching images from colleagues on the frontlines, I fear our healthcare workforce will be battling PTSD next, and … Continued
How to Create a Safety Protocol for Emergency Department Psychiatric Patients
Patients with psychiatric illness can spend lengthy periods of time in emergency departments waiting for psychiatric evaluation or transfer to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Earlier research found that the mean length of stay (LOS) for psychiatric patients in emergency departments awaiting an inpatient bed was 16.5 hours and LOS for psychiatric patients in EDs awaiting transfer to another facility was 21.5 hours.
Achieving Zero Preventable Deaths: One Hospital’s Journey
At CHOC’s Quality Committee meeting in 2015, CHOC deliberately shifted its established goal from “reducing hospital-acquired conditions” to “achieving zero preventable deaths.” This goal became one of three quality domain factors that would determine annual leadership bonuses, thus further encouraging physicians to aggressively pursue it.
How Patient Safety Will Evolve in a Post-COVID-19 World
While this pandemic was unprecedented in our modern history of care, we must face the truth that we will confront other epidemics or health crises in our lifetimes, so we cannot ignore the lessons of the past year. In the future, having local stockpiles of PPE, monitors, and other medical supplies on demand will be essential to avoid repeating the struggle we faced during this pandemic. There is also a need for quickly scalable critical care solutions, as sourcing and configuring pieces of high-demand medical equipment when a surge hits is not efficient.
EVS Training and Certification are Essential to Healthcare’s Mission
By: Hagan Kappler Modern healthcare is based on two important principles originally ascribed to Hippocrates: help the sick and abstain from doing harm. Physicians are sworn to these ideals. Nurses and others in healthcare promise the same. These goals are certainly true for Environmental Services directors and staff. They serve on the frontline of infection … Continued
IHI CEO Emphasizes Need for ‘Curb Cut Solutions’ to Patient Safety Issues
Mate, who was named the organization’s CEO in June, said the search for ways to build a better healthcare system should embrace the concept of targeted universalism, which is an inclusive way to implement interventions. A prime example of targeted universalism is the curb cut, which was initially created to provide public streets accessible to wheelchair users, but now benefits a wide variety of people for various reasons.
Report: After 20 Years, Why Isn’t Patient Safety Better?
The report examined 20,211 closed medical malpractice claims from 2010 to 2019 to provide risk managers, clinicians, and healthcare executives a unique view into factors that lead to claims. It is intended as a tool to proactively reduce conditions that result in patient harm and financial risk.
Flu Shots Still Required but TJC Eliminates 90% Goal
Initiatives outlined in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections set the goal of a 90% vaccination rate among healthcare personnel. But in the August publication of the HHS “Healthy People 2030” goals, that 90% rate was removed, according to TJC’s announcement.
Improving Hand Hygiene Requires a Multi-Modal Approach
The key to implementing a winning hand hygiene strategy is to take a multimodal approach. Combining direct observation, just-in-time coaching and an electronic compliance monitoring system are effective solutions.