Take flu shots, for instance. How do you best ensure that you reach the optimal percentage of staff? How about an attention-grabbing catchphrase? At Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD, a new theme is introduced every year during flu...
Patient safety staff members at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) knew they had a chance to increase their incident reporting, so they did something about it. And what they did didn’t require them to train hundreds of staff members in the large academic teaching hospital, but it still...
Do you or your leadership team know how many quality improvement (QI) and performance improvement (PI) teams your organization currently has? Does your frontline staff know the organization’s strategic plan and vision? Do your middle managers have leadership training? Do all your PI teams report...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
Did you notice a significant change in the Universal Protocol™ (UP) recently? No? We’re not surprised. Most of us missed the fact that The Joint Commission removed the UP FAQs from its website. We’ve been told that there is no intention to re-post the FAQs, relying instead on the UP rationale...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
When addressing anesthesia and sedation guidelines, the best advice is not to follow the letter of the law, but to look more accurately at the intent of the requirements, Bud Pate, REHS, vice president of content and development of The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., in...
Many of those who work in hospitals know there is always potential for staff to make mistakes, and that those mistakes might cause patient harm. Hospitals are constantly working toward better patient care, putting systems in place to ensure that clinicians double- and triple-check their work,...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
If you stay around long enough in this field, the issues just cycle back. This year in the annual Joint Commission Executive Briefings, the issue of standing orders once again was raised. MM.04.04.01, EP 1 defines standing orders as pre-written medication orders and specific instructions from...
