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• Take our anonymous Joint Commission poll; results to be published in free report

  If your hospital underwent a Joint Commission survey in 2009, we want to hear from you about how surveyors reviewed the physical environment provisions. We’ve set up an online poll to track which environment of care, emergency management, and life safety standards received the most citations during surveys this year.

• CMS now permits six-year damper tests in hospitals

  As we first reported Tuesday on our “HospitalSafety” Twitter account, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a memo allowing hospitals to use six-year frequencies for smoke and fire damper tests.

  This move ends a conflicting provision between CMS and The Joint Commission, as the commission has allowed six-year damper testing for some time under its environment of care standards, while CMS had maintained four-year testing rules.

• Mac’s Safety Space: Be wary about using fire drills as emergency management tests

  Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best practices on a variety of hospital safety topics on his blog, Mac’s Safety Space.

• Tip of the week: Read our free article about dealing with the press after security-related incidents

  In the past month, hospitals across the country have dealt with alleged stabbings, muggings on campus, security planning for H1N1, attempted rapes, security officer actions, and more.

• Oregon hospitals tighten visitation policies to curb H1N1

  Hospitals in Oregon, along with many other hospitals across the country, are tightening their visitation policies in an effort to control the spread of the H1N1 flu viruses.

• Tornadoes, storms hit parts of Louisiana, Arkansas

  Violent thunderstorms and tornadoes hit Northwestern Louisiana and neighboring Arkansas Thursday, reports the local CBS affiliate.