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• Don't forget to enter to win free admission to the CRC Symposium!

  Are you feeling lucky? Vegas lucky? Then enter our contest to win free admission to the Credentialing Resource Center Symposium, May 6-7, 2010 at Casers Palace in Las Vegas. Click here to read the entire contest rules.

• HHS replaces NPDB management team

  Following a newspaper exposé that revealed inaccuracies in the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) replaced the NPDB management team, according to a March 2, Los Angles Times article.

• HHS releases proposed rule for EHR certification

  Certification to ensure functionality, security necessary to meet meaningful use criteria
  
  Is your EHR meaningful use–compliant? Healthcare providers may soon be able to find out for sure.
  
  HHS released a proposed rule March 2 for establishing certification programs for health information technology. The proposed rule describes the creation of a certification program for EHRs, as mandated by the HITECH Act.

• February contest winner: MS.01.01.01 gap analysis tool

  Congratulations to Linda Ford, CPMSM, CPCS, our February contest winner! Her innovative MS.01.01.01 gap analysis tool won her free registration to the Credentialing Resource Center Symposium, May 5 - 6.

  Keep those contest entries coming! Our next contest drawing is at the end of March.

  Visit the Credentialing Resource Center blog to download the MS.01.01.01 gap analysis tool.

• New preoperative skin preparations reduce SSIs

  Authors of a new study, published in the January 7 New England Journal of Medicine, wanted to find out whether chlorhexidine-alcohol prep translated to the prevention of SSIs better than providone-iodine, just as it has with catheter-related bloodstream infections.

• Evaluating decontamination procedures prior to sterilization

  A major part of that process is decontaminating and properly cleaning equipment before actual sterilization begins. Neglecting to remove debris from medical instruments can hinder the process, says Rose Seavey, RN, BS, MBA, CNOR, CRCST, CSPDT, president and CEO of Seavey Healthcare Consulting in Arvada, CO.