HCPro.com - Hospital Safety Insider

Practicing holiday hand hygiene might lead to gift of health

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 04:02:00 GMT

No one wants to spend the holidays with a cold or, worse yet, the flu. As we hit the home stretch of holiday shopping in packed malls and spending time with relatives -- especially the little ones who may not have the best sneezing etiquette -- it is important to remember to wash your hands.

"Regularly washing your hands is one of the most important ways to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others," explains Dr. Linda Bessert of Metro Health Wayland. "Just think of all the things you touch in a day: telephones, toilets, doors, money and other people. Now, think about the number of times you touch your own face, eyes or mouth. You could be scratching your nose or eating a Christmas cookie. There are germs on your hands that you are being exposed to."

Source: The Grand Rapids Press

Depressing Leapfrog scores haunt hospitals

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

One would like to think hospitals are becoming a safer place to be, but that’s apparently not the case. According to the Leapfrog Group, an independent non-profit that released hospital safety scores last week in a letter-grade fashion, more hospitals across the U.S. got worse rather than getting better.

Of the roughly 2,500 hospitals scored, 74 % saw no change at all, 14 % saw their grades go down, and only about 10 % saw improvement of one or two letter grades. According to Leapfrog CEO and President Leah Binder, that’s “depressing,” especially considering the large incidence of ‘never’ events that are still occurring in hospitals.

Read the entire article here

Report: Nearly 10 percent of patients have C.diff at admission

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A new report in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control says one in 10 patients admitted to hospitals already has asymptomatic C. difficile infection before they even get there.

Read the entire article here

He aint HVA, he is my opportunity

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

An interesting topic came across my desk relative to a January 2013 survey, and it pertains to the use of your HVA process as a means of driving staff education initiatives.

Read Steve Mac’s entire column here

Hospitals see wave of products to fight superbugs

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Even in an era when good hygiene and careful use of antibiotics is the norm, U.S. hospitals are still seeing an alarming incidence of so-called “Superbugs,” infections that are becoming increasingly resistant to the use of antibiotics.

According to a report in The Washington Post, it is estimated that one in 20 patients in hospitals pick up an infection they didn’t have when they arrived there. These infections are tied to an estimated 100,000 deaths and up to $30 billion in medical costs each year.

Because of this, hospitals, under the pressure of Medicare programs refusing to pay for costs related to some infections, are feeling the pressure to do more to prevent the spread of germs, and are trying everything from ultra-violet light to hydrogen peroxide vapors and anti-microbial linens to stop Superbug transmission. And there is no shortage of companies marketing products to help do that.

Read the entire article here

Copper key in reducing infections

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A new report claims that hospital-acquired infections were cut down by more than half by using copper surfaces in intensive care unit rooms.

Source: Fierce Healthcare

Clean hands still considered gold standard for infection control

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

In celebration of Hand Hygiene Day last Monday, the United Nations health agency says that hundreds of millions of infections could be prevented if healthcare professionals, patients, and their families simply wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer after touching patients and their surroundings.

Source: U.N. News Centre

Report: Targeted screening could help reduce C. diff infection

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A new study claims that hospitals can identify most patients that are infected with C. difficile by testing for three risk factors. By utilizing this method, as many as 74 percent of patients carrying the infection were identified.

Read the entire article http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/targeted-screening-can-reduce-spread-c-diff-infection/2013-05-03

Innovations of "Hospital Safety Superstars" defined

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

AARP magazine recently published, "Lessons from America's Safest Hospitals," available on the organization's website. The link also includes a sampling of "Hospital Safety Superstars" to showcase what some of the most innovative hospitals are doing to prevent medical errors and keep patients safe.

Read the article:

Innovations of "Hospital Safety Superstars" defined

Latest scores show incremental progress in hospital safety

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

According to the Leapfrog Group, U.S. hospitals are only making incremental progress when it comes to dealing with accidents, errors, injuries and infections that hurt or kill their patients.

The national, independent non-profit assigns letter grades to about 2,500 hospitals across the nation, a grade known as the Hospital Safety Score, based on hospital safety data and reviewed by a panel of eight hospital safety professionals.

Maine edged out Massachusetts in the 2013 survey as the state with the safest hospitals, as 80 percent of that state’s hospitals received a grade of “A.” Completing the top five states were Minnesota, Virginia, and Illinois.

Read the entire article here

Drills that readied hospitals and EMS for bombings face funding cuts

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Boston hospitals and emergency services have gotten rave reviews for the quick and well-orchestrated response to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, both for the speed of patient processing in the ER, but also the communication among emergency responders.

In a perfect world, emergency response drills are held regularly at hospitals to help prepare for such emergencies that overload and stress hospital staff, and two such 24-hour drills held in Boston since May 2010 are being credited with preparing city hospitals. In fact, a report by Boston Office of Emergency Management says all marathon victims were in the hospital within 18 minutes of the first blast.

With $125 million in budget costs being proposed for the Hospital Preparedness Program in the 2014 federal budget, however, those drills that teach hospital staff to think “on the fly” during a critical incident could be in jeopardy.

Source: Yahoo! News

Report: Hospitals too often neglect drug safety education

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A report by the Institute for Safe Medical Practices (ISMP) says hospitals are lacking in educating their pharmacists, nurses, and physicians in medication safety due to pressing concerns that push such training to the back burner. This lack of consistency in training can lead to errors that compromise patient safety.

Read the full article here

Excellence amid chaos: A word from the land of the bean and the cod

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Greeley safety consultant Steve Mac takes a minute to recognize the efforts of Boston-area hospitals after the Boston Marathon bomb attacks.

Read his entire column here

Hospital Safety: Who’s responsibility?

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Joint Commission Provides Web-Based Resource on CMS Guidelines

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:37:00 GMT

Texas fertilizer company did not disclose amount of chemicals on site

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:19:00 GMT

OSHA and other federal agencies require companies to disclose the amount and type of hazardous materials they have on site for a reason: the information can save the lives of first responders and hospital staff in an emergency.

West Fertilizer, the company that owns the fertilizer plant that caught fire and exploded near Waco, Texas last week is under fire from members of Congress and several safety experts after it was discovered that the facility had been storing 1,350 tons more highly-explosive ammonium nitrate than would normally attract the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Companies that store more than 400 pounds of the substance are required to report to the DHS, but filings with the Texas Department of State Health Services last year only show 270 tons of the highly explosive substance on site. Other reports show that the last OSHA inspection of the plant was back in 1985.

Part of the town of West, Texas was destroyed last Wednesday and more than 14 people, including responding firefighters and EMTs, were killed when the fertilizer plant exploded. ammonium nitrate, commonly used as fertilizer, can also be used in bomb making and was a major component in the truck bomb that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Source: Yahoo News

Hospital Safety Hurt by Teamwork Lapses, AIG Study Shows

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Patient safety at U.S. hospitals is hampered by inadequate teamwork and communication, as well as a negative culture, according to a study by insurerAmerican International Group Inc

Consumer Reports: Many hospitals continue to lag in safety

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

More than 2,000 U.S. hospitals were included in Consumer Reports' updated hospital safety report, which noted hospitals continue to lag on five metrics -- readmissions, infections, complications, communication and CT scan overuse. Close to two-thirds of teaching hospitals included in the report had below-average safety scores.

View Full Article in: HealthLeaders Media

3 Steps to use a surgical safety checklist

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

In 2010, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Conn., implemented the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist to reduce infection rates in the operating room. While a checklist is a simple tool, successfully using the checklist was harder than simply handing out checklists to team members.

Boston Hospitals balanced operations with safety during lockdown

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The entire city of Boston went into lockdown mode last Friday during a manhunt that eventually brought down the two men who allegedly exploded two bombs at the Boston Marathon April 15. Hospitals, along with schools and businesses, also went into lockdown mode, and had to keep safety in mind while deciding whether to resume regular operations.

Many Boston hospitals locked down their entrances, restricting access to only employees with valid security identification until the city-wide lockdown was over. Some hospitals, such as Boston Children’s Hospital, canceled all non-emergency patient appointments and postponed discharges until the all-clear signal was given.

The challenges hospitals faced during the lockdown forced administrators to take a look at their facility’s ability to lockdown quickly. An August 2009 survey in Campus Safety Magazine showed that it could take some hospitals up to 11 minutes to completely secure their facility, while some U.S. hospitals couldn’t shut down their facility at all.

Source: Fierce Healthcare