Quality & Patient Safety Newsletters

Briefings on Accreditation and Quality Patient Safety Monitor

Patient Safety Monitor is a searchable, web-based crosswalk that organizes state, CMS, and Joint Commission requirements by topic. It also provides access to news and analysis on dozens of the most challenging patient safety issues via the monthly journal, the tools and templates library, and the weekly e-newsletter.

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Issue 48, December 6, 2002

• Patient safety extends beyond clinical circles

  The fact is even a third-shift housekeeper needs to understand something about how the...

Issue 12, December 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• The Leapfrog Group announces the results of its patient safety survey

  The Leapfrog Group announces the results of its patient safety survey

• Bringing in the SWAT team to improve patient safety

  You probably picture black-clad law enforcement agents clutching weapons when you hear the...

• Case study: Enlist frontline staff as patient safety coaches.

  At Sentara Norfolk (VA) General Hospital, staff members are not only trained on patient safety...

• Create a pocket safety guide to help your staff navigate safety issues ;

  Staff at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston are now better prepared to handle...

• Establish a culture that focuses on systems, individual responsibility>

  For years, errors were blamed on people instead of systems. People were punished and...

• Up all night: How one hospital is improving safety by keeping senior intensivis

  Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston always have access to...

Issue 11, November 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Benchmark for success? Accreditation does not necessarily ensure quality, study

  Benchmark for success? Accreditation does not necessarily ensure quality, study says

• Billing disgruntled patients might be the wrong choice

  Editor’s note: Below is a sample article from BOPS’ sister publication, Briefings...

• Case study: One hospital works to improve safety for its patients

  Improvements earn the hospital an AHA award At Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis...

• Faulty filing can put primary care patients at risk for medical errors

  When it comes to patient safety, nearly all of the focus has been on hospitals. However, more...

• The JCAHO Patient Safety Goals: A look at goals four through six

  Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series examining the JCAHO’s...

Issue 10, October 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Work closely with your traditional safety committee to promote patient safety

  Work closely with your traditional safety committee to promote patient safety

• Mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios for acute care hospitals proposed

  Mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios for acute care hospitals proposed

• Make sure you choose the right computerized physician order entry system

  By Ken Farbstein Almost every hospital uses a computerized billing system to capture...

• Preparing patients to go home

  What you should know about discharge planning You probably spend a lot of time thinking about...

• Protecting children from medical treatment errors

  Though they may seem like small adults, when it comes to medical treatment, children are very...

• The patient safety goals can drive quality improvement

  Tips on how to comply with the first three: patient identification, effective communication...

Issue 9, September 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Hazard Vulnerability Analysis can help you select FMEA topic

  Hazard Vulnerability Analysis can help you select FMEA topic

• Center care around your patients to promote safety

  When patients come into a hospital for treatment it can be a disconcerting experience. Not only is...

• Computerized physician order entry: Getting started

  By Ken FarbsteinThe greatest change in physician orders in the thousand years since the...

• Interpreters can protect your patients from harm and your facility from lawsuit

  A woman takes her three sick children to a public health clinic. The woman is illiterate and...

• JCAHO ‘call to action’ to combat nursing shortage

  A new national report calls on health care executives and policy makers to step up efforts to...

• JCAHO’s new patient safety goals: Designed to protect patients

  The JCAHO’s new patient safety goals are out and for many they were a pleasant surprise.The...

Issue 8, August 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• How to hire and retain nurses during the current national staffing shortage

  How to hire and retain nurses during the current national staffing shortage

• Beware: Treatment delays and poor staff communication can cost your patients th

  Communication gaps among physicians can put your patients in harm’s way, according to the...

• Consistent, organized information critical to patient safety, compliance with r

  Editor’s note: In this issue, BOPS will examine one of the new revised medication use...

• Detroit hospital faces an infection- control problem head on

  Beware of similar issues at your own facilityA potential infection control problem may be lurking...

• Study indicates malpractice risk is linked to patient complaints

  Pay attention when your patients complain about a physician. The more unsolicited complaints...

• Teamwork is critical to promoting patient safety

  Teach staff how to communicate with one another to avoid errorsWhen a plane crashes, two-thirds...

Issue 7, July 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Leadership methods are key in promoting patient safety

  Leadership methods are key in promoting patient safety

• Case study: Scheduling changes can help prevent ER diversions

  Across the country emergency rooms are overflowing. Yours is probably no exception. If...

• Improved medication safety

  How one hospital made physicians clean up handwritten prescription ordersIf a physician’s...

• Second MedMarx report shows same drugs and issues causing hospital errors

  The United States Pharmacopoeia has released its second report outlining errors reported by...

• Telling the truth: Why you should disclose medical errors to your patients

  A medication mix-up takes place at your hospital. The error will not permanently harm the...

Issue 6, June 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Reduce your health care facility's risk of wrong-site surgery

  Reduce your health care facility’s risk of wrong-site surgery

• A CEO’s tale: Lessons learned in the wake of a six-year-old’s MRI d

  How Westchester Medical Center has changed its waysIronically, it often takes a death or serious...

• Be on the lookout for new ‘safe practices’ list

  National Quality Forum could approve list by end of yearA new list of safe practices for...

• Construction and landscaping at your facility can place your patients at risk o

  Hospitals often hire contractors to spruce up their grounds or to improve their facility. But they...

• Improve medication safety with daily staff briefings

  Regular discussions can identify safety issues before they harm patientsFive-minute briefings at...

• Involving executives in rounds can improve safety

  Chances are your staff look to their leaders to point out the direction the organization will...

• IOM may have underestimated the patient safety problem

  In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report that estimated between 44,000 and 98,000...

• Patient safety on the state radar screen

  By Wendy Maneval, Esq. Since the 1999 release of the Institute of Medicine’s...

Issue 5, May 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Leadership methods are key in promoting patient safety

  Leadership methods are key in promoting patient safety

• Answers to some common questions about FMEA

  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations now requires hospitals to select...

• Be aware: A clinicians’ addictions can harm patients

  Take steps to prevent drug theft and substitutionA Texas hospital urged more than 1,000 patients...

• Make controlling hospital infections a priority

  CDC, experts outline key steps all hospitals should takeEach year more than two million patients...

• Private grants push health care providers to provide ‘perfect’ pati

  Seven health care organizations received grant money as part of a new initiative that is expected...

• Results of the pilot testing of staffing effectiveness standards

  Forty-three of your hospital colleagues recently participated in pilot testing of the...

Issue 4, April 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Hospitalists must keep communication lines open to promote patient safety

  Five years ago, there was no such thing as a hospitalist. But in the next five years there will...

• Patient simulators train medical teams to handle crises

  Devices can help your hospital improve patient safetyThe patient is a plastic store mannequin...

• Preventing medication errors in the elderly

  A group of Canadian researchers is recommending that emergency departments systematically screen...

• Revised medication use standards put focus on safety

  Organizations may need to revamp policies to complyThe JCAHO’s draft revisions to the...

• The answer to the Alert

  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) may have come up with an...

Issue 3, March 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Poor nutrition may be affecting your staff's performance

  Poor nutrition may be affecting your staff’s performance

• Benchmark for success? Accreditation does not necessarily ensure quality, study

  A controversial new study claims that just because a hospital receives a high score during a Joint...

• Hazard Vulnerability Analysis can help you select FMEA topic

  The Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA), an evaluation tool often used to assess the hazards of...

• Mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios for acute care hospitals proposed

  Critics claim ratios will give patients less access to careA landmark proposal in California may...

• The Leapfrog Group announces the results of its patient safety survey

  Last year, the Leapfrog Group embarked on a study to determine how many hospitals use...

• Work closely with your ‘traditional safety committee’ to promote pa

  In January two patients died at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, CT, when they...

Issue 2, February 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• How to hire and retain nurses during the current national staffing shortage

  How to hire and retain nurses during the current national staffing shortage

• Encourage communication and collaboration

  Encourage communication and collaboration

• Indicators track inappropriate hospital admissions

  Indicators track inappropriate hospital admissions

• Experts offer tips for preventing surgical errors

  Experts offer tips for preventing surgical errors

Issue 1, January 21, 2002 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• BOPS 2001 Index

  BOPS 2001 Index

• Poor nutrition may be affecting your staff's performance

  Poor nutrition may be affecting your staff’s performance

• Protect patient safety when you're short-staffed

  Protect patient safety when you’re short-staffed

• The FDA developing a proposed rule requiring bar codes on all prescription drug

  The FDA developing a proposed rule requiring bar codes on all prescription drug labels

• Usability testing can ensure the safest environment for patients

  Usability testing can ensure the safest environment for patients