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Issue 31, August 5, 2021

• AHA asks CMS to keep some 1135 waivers to help hospitals regain footing

  The American Hospital Association is pushing for CMS to continue some COVID-19-related 1135 waivers...

• AIHA voices concerns about COVID-19 ETS

  On July 27, AIHA (formerly the American Industrial Hygiene Association) revealed concerns about the...

• CMS issues maternal morbidity and COVID-19 worker vaccination reporting requirements

  CMS is adding a maternal morbidity quality measure as well as a reporting requirement on COVID-19...

Issue 30, July 29, 2021

• HHS extends COVID-19 PHE another 90 days

  The 90 days is up on October 18, but could be extended again. HHS has promised to give states at...

• AHA supports mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers

  The American Hospital Association is supporting mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare...

• Healthcare leaders identify top digital transformation priorities

  While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how huge a role technology can play in making the care...

Issue 29, July 22, 2021

• HHS extends COVID-19 PHE another 90 days

  The 90 days is up on October 18, but could be extended again. HHS has promised to give states at...

• Stroke benchmarks during COVID: HFAP releases latest report

  HFAP, a brand of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), issued its annual...

• Nurses urge CDC to reinstate universal masking

  The United States is seeing a 16% increase in daily new cases over the previous week and...

Issue 28, July 15, 2021

• OIG cites CMS for poor risk assessments

  Guess who just got dinged after an audit for not doing a risk assessment right? CMS.

• Should OSHA’s new COVID-19 protections become permanent? Comment until August 20

  OSHA will take comments until August 20 on an emergency temporary standard to set COVID-19 worker...

• University hospitals exec: "Healthcare is riddled with mindless variation"

  Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, is the chief quality and clinical transformation officer at University...

Issue 27, July 8, 2021

• DNV to return to unannounced surveys September 7

  DNV Healthcare announces it is returning full unannounced, onsite surveys as of September 7...

• Healthcare facilities: LED fixture continuously disinfects all airborne viruses

  UVC light inactivates viruses and other airborne pathogens, improving indoor safety

• Physician shortage could be as high as 124,000 by 2034, study finds

  By 2034, there will be a shortage of physicians ranging from 37,800 to 124,000, according to...

Issue 26, July 1, 2021

• New workplace violence prevention requirements will require tough questions

  Implementing The Joint Commission’s (TJC) workplace violence prevention...

• FDA updates recommendations on reprocessing of flexible bronchoscopes

  FDA issues new recommmendations on reprocessing flexible bronchoscopes.

• OIG: Medicare lacks cybersecurity oversight for hospital-based networked medical devices

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a...

Issue 25, June 24, 2021

• Physician shortage could be as high as 124,000 by 2034, study finds

  By 2034, there will be a shortage of physicians ranging from 37,800 to 124,000, according to...

• Top three reasons to continue mask mandates for patients and staff

  The top three reasons to continue to require patients, staff, visitors, and vendors to wear masks.

• Coronavirus pandemic drives growth of hospital at home programs

  After modest uptake for nearly three decades, hospital at home programs are now growing faster...

Issue 24, June 17, 2021

• OSHA outlines new emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 safety for healthcare workers

  Be prepared to quickly implement the elements of a new OSHA emergency temporary...

• CDC encourages hospitals, urgent care centers to help vaccinate vulnerable populations

  The CDC is encouraging hospitals and urgent care centers to step up outreach to vulnerable patient...

• Coronavirus pandemic has eroded physician trust in several areas, survey finds

  Physicians are essential players in the healthcare system. When physicians lack trust in...

Issue 23, June 10, 2021

• CEOs Make Healthcare Worker Safety a Top Priority

  A group of healthcare organization CEOs recently adopted a Declaration of Principles to improve the...

• Study: Non-COVID-19 Emergency Department Visits Fell for All Acuity Levels During Pandemic

  An examination of emergency department visits before and during the coronavirus pandemic at a St...

• ATA Chair: Telemedicine Choices in Next Few Months Will Shape the Next Decade

  With pandemic case rates plummeting, telehealth has reached a fork in the road, and one of the...

Issue 22, June 3, 2021

• Nearly Half of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Discharged in Declining Shape

  Nearly half of COVID-19 patients left the hospital with significant functional decline...

• California HHS Rebuffs CDC, Extends Mask Guidance Through Mid-June

  California state health officials announced this week that they will extend a mask mandate through...

• New Toolkit Aids Nurse Leaders in Reestablishing Family-Presence Policies

  A new decision-making tool to help nurse leaders re-start family-presence policies that balance...

Issue 21, May 27, 2021

• Addressing inequity

  Data from the COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmingly highlighted the longstanding inequity in...

• Physicians urged to prepare for mental health crises

  “We know from that survey last spring that only 13% of physicians sought medical attention...

• CDC Mask Guidelines are Based on "Incomplete Data," Nurses Union Says

  New mask guidelines issued last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC...

Issue 20, May 20, 2021

• Don't change policies yet on masking inside your facility

  Hospitals and other healthcare facilities should continue to require masks against COVID-19 as...

• Clean hands, clear communication: How nurse leaders ushered in hand hygiene tech tools

  Although observations showed a 90% hand hygiene compliance across the health system where he is...

• Improving communication with technology

  Can the right tools solve tech-enabled communication challenges? Clear communication—with...

Issue 19, May 13, 2021

• Check your state's pandemic plan to make sure 1135 waivers don't conflict with those requirements

  Be sure to review any federal 1135 blanket waivers against your state's requirements to...

• Review new CMS vaccines rule: It may soon apply to more facilities

  CMS pre-published an interim final rule today that sets COVID-19 vaccine requirements for...

• HazCom: What EHS Managers Need to Know

  The hazard communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200)—sometimes referred to as the HazCom...

Issue 18, May 6, 2021

• Tips for Opening a Field Hospital During the Coronavirus Pandemic

  The recent journal article, which was published by Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, features...

• ONC Coordinator Outlines New Vistas for Telehealth, Unblocked Health Records, and Patient ID

  Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, who holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard...

• Critical Care Nurses' Mental, Physical Health Connected to Preventable Medical Errors

  Nearly two-thirds (60.9%) of the CCNs reported having made medical errors in the past five years...

Issue 17, April 29, 2021

• Treat Coronavirus 'Long Haulers' With Multidisciplinary and Comprehensive Approach

  Many COVID-19 patients have experienced a range of symptoms for weeks or months after the acute...

• Telehealth: How Asynchronous Communication Creates Provider Efficiencies

  At the beginning of 2020, physicians and consumers had not yet fully embraced the concept of...

• In Pandemic's Wake, Healthcare IT Faces New Realities

  New realities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic are reshaping healthcare IT in ways that affect...

Issue 16, April 22, 2021

• Infection prevention: Looking to the future while tending to the present

  The challenges facing infection preventionists (IP) were already immense before the COVID-19...

• How physicians can support better technology development

  Healthcare technology innovation is moving faster than ever as technology companies push tremendous...

• Coronavirus pandemic stressors impacting careers of healthcare workers

  The coronavirus pandemic has led many healthcare workers, particularly women with children, to...

Issue 15, April 15, 2021

• FDA says to decrease reuse of devices, CMS removes some blanket waivers

  Be aware that as COVID-19 cases decline and vaccination rates climb, the emergency...

• Preventing opioid overprescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic

  The U.S. has wrestled with the demons of the opioid epidemic for decades, and even a global...

• New survey reveals how hospital supply chains affect nurses, patient safety, and margins

  Of 100 nurses surveyed—50 nurse leaders and 50 frontline nurses—in February, 86% said...

Issue 14, April 8, 2021

• Study shows racial disparity in hospital patient safety

  Differences in the quality of hospitals that Black and White patients access are a driver of...

• How to seize on opportunities to improve safety and patient experience

  There are golden opportunities to improve patient safety and patient experience at healthcare...

• UC Health shares 4 lessons learned from coronavirus pandemic

  By multiple measures, COVID-19 has challenged healthcare providers more than any other public...

Issue 13, April 1, 2021

• Yes, you must open doors to unvaccinated surveyors

  Ready or not, yes, you must let surveyors on site at your hospital or other facilities even if they...

• Full speed ahead: CMS resumes most surveys

  CMS surveyors could be on your doorstep tomorrow if you have faced a complaint in the last two...

• Review patient falls, especially those involving infants, as surveys resume

  The Joint Commission releases its 2020 sentinel event report: patient falls, unintentional...

Issue 12, March 25, 2021

• Hospital service volumes expected to rebound, survey finds

  Although hospital service volumes decreased significantly in 2020, health system leaders expect...

• Coronavirus: Lessons learned From flu vaccination trends

  The coronavirus pandemic has exposed inequities in the U.S. healthcare system, particularly for...

• Improving antimicrobial stewardship: AAAHC publishes new toolkit

  To help combat drug-resistant bacteria, the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care...

• 10 steps to becoming a high-reliability hospital from Truman Medical Center

  By the end of the study, Truman reported that its patient outcomes had improved, low-harm errors...

Issue 11, March 18, 2021

• 10 steps to becoming a high-reliability hospital from Truman Medical Center

  By the end of the study, Truman reported that its patient outcomes had improved, low-harm errors...

• Inside the technology protecting healthcare from supply chain cybersecurity attacks

  With cybersecurity risks on the rise at hospitals and health systems, third-party access has...

• What might be in a federal OSHA COVID-19 standard?

  On January 21, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order directing the Occupational...

Issue 10, March 11, 2021

• TJC to begin unannounced survey visits again

  The Joint Commission says it will start unannounced surveys again, as of March 15.

• What you need to know about TJC’s 2021 Survey Activity Guide

  The Joint Commission's updated Survey Activity Guide is finally online. Here are some tips on what...

• NCSA on Cybersecurity: 'Update, Update, Update'

  NCSA executive director Kelvin Coleman recently spoke with HealthLeaders about...

Issue 9, March 4, 2021

• CDC alert: Screen for international travel as Ebola cases increase

  Review your infection control plan for Ebola now that the CDC is recommending that all...

• Rate our newsletters! What do you think about HLSC, HSL, and MEU?

  This is Brian Ward and A.J. Plunkett, editors of Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Healthcare...

• Experts urge more action, emergency OSHA standard on COVID-19

  Thirteen medical and scientific experts urged the Biden administration to take immediate...

• How to treat coronavirus patients in post-ICU care clinics

  Indiana University Health is using an ambulatory post-ICU care clinic to treat COVID-19 patients...

Issue 8, February 25, 2021

• More and more hospital surveys may be onsite, depending on conditions

  As COVID-19 cases go down, your odds for on onsite reaccreditation survey might go up. While...

• OSHA HazCom updates include labeling, SDS requirements

  On February 16, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed an update to...

• Study: Half of hospitalized coronavirus patients have symptoms 4 months after discharge

  Many coronavirus patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection experience...

Issue 7, February 18, 2021

• OSHA Proposes Revised HazCom Standard to Conform to GHS

  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed rules to modify the Hazard...

• When Face-to-Face isn't an option: Exploring the future of telehealth and remote care during COVID-19 and beyond

  This technology has been available for some time, of course, but was not nearly as widely used as...

• 30% of hospitals are noncompliant with CMS price transparency rule

  Unsurprisingly, more hospitals were compliant with the 300 consumer-friendly shoppable services...

Issue 6, February 11, 2021

• CMS updates accrediting organizations on when to pause surveys

  CMS tells AOs they can put surveys on hold, if necessary. But not all AOs may change current...

• Joint Commission issues alert to help nurses, healthcare workers with COVID-19 crisis

  One Iowa nurse quoted in the publication explained in stark terms how the continuing onslaught of...

• How Cedars-Sinai built "COVID Line Team" for busy ICUs

  A volunteer “COVID Line Team” at a Los Angeles–based medical center has boosted...

Issue 5, February 4, 2021

• HHS says it will give 60 days' notice before ending PHE

  HHS says it will give states 60 days’ notice before it officially ends the COVID-19 public...

• Top 10 medical technology hazards of 2021 show impact of pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every aspect of healthcare, and a popular annual list of...

• Solving healthcare's unique cybersecurity risks

  The risks of cyberattacks on hospitals and other healthcare settings was already high pre-pandemic...

Issue 4, January 28, 2021

• Hospitals must prepare as security and privacy concerns increase in 2021

  Last March 15, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) waived...

• How to run an emergency department social medicine team

  Treating patients with behavioral health issues such as substance abuse and social challenges such...

• Missed cancer screening during coronavirus pandemic raises alarm

  Decreased rates of cancer screening during the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a significant...

Issue 3, January 21, 2021

• CMS puts hospital surveys on limited hold as surge continues

  CMS is putting a general hold on hospital surveys, except for those dealing with immediate jeopardy...

• Adopt a crisis command culture during the coronavirus pandemic

  Across the country, health systems and hospitals have established incident command centers to...

• How to create a safety protocol for emergency department psychiatric patients

  Patients with psychiatric illness can spend lengthy periods of time in emergency departments...

Issue 2, January 14, 2021

• CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE

  CMS creates easier way to ask about waivers during the current public health emergency, which has...

• TJC seeks input on new requirements for workplace violence prevention, resuscitative services

  The Joint Commission is asking for feedback on proposed changes to hospital requirements on...

• Coronavirus vaccination: 4 best practices for communicating with patients

  Clinicians need to take a multipronged approach to communicating with their patients about...

Issue 1, January 7, 2021

• Use screening protocols to ensure civil unrest stays out of your hospital

  When civil unrest outside your doors threatens to come inside, be sure staff are trained on...

• AAAHC issues COVID-19 risk prevention guidelines

  Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Accreditation...

• How patient matching can help eliminate COVID-19 disparities in care

  Missing contact information on COVID-19 laboratory results prevents individuals with positive test...