Quality & Patient Safety Newsletters

Briefings on Infection Control Briefings on The Joint Commission Patient Safety Monitor

As part of your Patient Safety Monitor membership, you'll receive Briefings on Patient Safety. In this 12-page monthly newsletter, discover the regulatory news, best practices, and staff training ideas you need to successfully create a culture of patient safety in your facility. Don't miss another issue. Become a member of Patient Safety Monitor today!

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Patient Safety Monitor

Issue 12, December 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• 2010 NPSGs reduce requirements, burden on hospitals

  The Joint Commission has released the 2010 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG), announcing to the...

• Voice recording technology improves patient handoffs

  When Kathleen Mikos, RN, MSN, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer, came to...

• Patient safety training and education programs offer range of opportunities

  In recent years, several fellowships and education programs have been introduced to the field. Many...

• Study: Nurses use repetitive processes to catch medication errors, improve patient care

  Linda Flynn, RN, PhD, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in...

Issue 11, November 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Patient Safety First campaign focuses staff, patients on common goal

  Keeping many new patient safety topics and initiatives fresh in the minds of frontline caregivers...

• Growth in cross-cultural competency improves patient care

  Overcoming the cultural boundaries that can prevent a patient-doctor relationship from forming can...

• Dancing with HCAHPS data

  Renowned businessman Lee Iacocca once said, “You can use the fanciest computers to gather the...

Issue 10, October 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Patient advisory boards engage patients in their own care

  In today’s culture, many hospitals are increasing their focus on patient-centered...

• Universal patient floor increases patient flow, decreases handoffs, improves patient safety

  In 2007, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles rolled out a “universal floor&rdquo...

• PQO model takes on a successful new look

  Quality improvement is something that UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC) in Worcester, MA, has...

• Could a federal patient safety agency offer a solution to rising number of errors?

  In the decade that has passed since the 1999 release of the Institute of Medicine’s To Err is...

Issue 9, September 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• The patient’s role in error reporting

  In the past ten years, a fair amount of headway has been made in refining error reporting systems...

• Coaching project helps facilities prepare for patient falls

  Patient falls have been a problem in hospitals for quite some time.

• Change in storage and administration helps hospital

  Insulin has long been targeted as a high-alert medication by The Joint Commission.

• Quality measurement, monitoring, and analysis

  Developing the right metrics—valid, reliable, feasible, meaningful, and...

Issue 8, August 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Illustrating the cost of poor quality

  As more hospital budgets are cut, it’s important for staff members who work in quality and...

• Group develops checklists to promote patient safety

  Ensuring patient safety and education are two of the most important tasks staff members in...

• Medication safety: A complex puzzle

  The National Quality Forum (NQF) included modifications to the medication management chapter in its...

• Survey: Budget cuts lead to diminished IC staff, resources

  A survey conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology...

Issue 7, July 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• National Patient Safety Goal compliance a moving target

  The 2009 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) include many changes. Since the start of this year...

• Keeping the hospital’s smallest patients safe

  For babies born prematurely, even the noise generated from a normal conversation can be too loud...

• Hospital focuses on improving patient ID processes

  In 2007, as part of an annual performance improvement review, Leisa Butler, RHIA, CPHQ, performance...

• Clear organizational goals, effective data use help leaders comply with leadership standards

  Compliance with The Joint Commission’s 2009 leadership standards requires an understanding of...

Issue 6, June 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Rehospitalization rate provides glimpse into bigger healthcare concerns

  A study published in the April 2 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) shows that 20% of Medicare...

• Facility lowers rate of pressure ulcers, specifically on heel

  NCH Healthcare System in Naples, FL, has seen a considerable decrease in the prevalence of ulcers...

• Health literacy: One pillar of patient education

  Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from the new HCPro book Effectively Managing Patient...

• Project RED reduces rehospitalization rates

  Patient discharge usually takes a backseat to other quality and patient safety measures that focus...

Issue 5, May 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• CMS clarifies oversight of HCAHPS in 2009, releases updated scores

  CMS released its fifth quarterly update of patient satisfaction data March 26, one year after the...

• Hospitalists’ role in patient safety: Leading the care team

  If your hospital is like the majority of hospitals in the United States, you probably have a few...

• Storytelling in healthcare enhances experience for patients and providers

  When someone becomes sick or injured and visits a doctor’s office, hospital, or other...

• UPenn Health System uses eICU to lower VAP rates

  Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) has been a constant headache for hospitals around the...

• Patient safety Q&A

  Q: Do you have advice for how we should handle National Patient Safety Goal 13.01.01 in all...

• Survey: Most hospitals make culture of safety a priority

  Creating a culture of safety has become a buzz phrase in patient safety during the past few years...

Issue 4, April 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Joint Commission announces no new NPSGs for 2010

  The Joint Commission has announced some significant changes concerning its National Patient Safety...

• Hospitals feel weight of poor economy

  Many hospitals are beginning to see the effects of the recession as leaders cut budgets, postponing...

• Use simulation training to boost culture of safety

  Many hospitals and medical schools offer some variation of simulation-based training in which...

• Hospital uses electronic medical record to improve handoff process

  Staff members at Abington (PA) Memorial Hospital knew their handoff process could use some work...

Issue 3, March 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• PSOs to help prevent errors through data sharing

  Four years after the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 authorized the creation of...

• Iowa Health System addresses health literacy within state facilities by adopting patient-centered approaches

  In 2003, staff members at Iowa Health System (IHS) identified poor health literacy as an ongoing...

• Enhanced system assessments allow for better throughput

  Poor patient flow affects patient care, safety, and satisfaction. Patients often face obstacles to...

• Patient safety Q&A

  Q. Is there a CMS or Joint Commission standard that forces a hospital to screen and treat each...

Issue 2, February 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• IHI launches Improvement Map, its newest campaign

  IHI president asks attendees to simplify practices, focus on healing patients At the IHI’s...

• National Quality Forum updates Safe Practices for 2009

  Leadership attitudes and actions keys to adopting Practices correctly Explaining how the National...

• Novant Health receives 2008 Ernest Amory Codman Award

  Hand hygiene program achieved 98% compliance over four-year period In 2004, Novant Health, a health...

• Patient safety by hospital design

  Evidence-based design improves care Dublin (OH) Methodist Hospital has not had a hospital-acquired...

• Patient safety Q&A

  Editor’s note: The following is a column answering some recent questions from “Patient...

Issue 1, January 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• AHRQ awards $3 million for CLABSI prevention program

  Every year, 30,000–62,000 patients die as the result of central line–associated...

• One facility identifies four ways to lower rates of CLABSI

  To prevent central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), Swedish Medical Center in...

• Pennsylvania health system improves patient flow and waiting time

  At Heritage Valley Health System (HVHS) in Beaver, PA, patient flow was a major concern, as it has...

• Communication key to patient safety program

  Throughout his medical career, Eric Schwartz, MD, hospitalist and medical director at Holston...

• Briefings on Patient Safety 2008 index

  Anticoagulant therapy Keys to creating a solid anticoagulant therapy program. March, p. 8. Three...