Hospital Peer Review – October 1, 2008
October 1, 2008
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Using antibiotic stewardship programs to curb resistance in fight against HAIs
With the arrival of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's no-pay rules, The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals, and the ever-growing emphasis on quality improvement on patient care, prevention has become the name of the game. -
Making your doctors, PharmDs play nice
When Hunterdon Medical Center added doctoral-level pharmacists to initiatives to stem antibiotic resistance, productive interaction between the PharmDs and the other medical staff became crucial to its success. -
Reversing the trend of resistant infections
"It was pretty primitive, what we were doing," says Sarah Bland, RPh, senior clinical pharmacist, Center for Drug Policy at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, referring to the method of screening drug orders before she began to use Premier Inc.'s web-based tools. -
Pending legislation, standards on HAIs
With the STAAR bill, which in part would establish an Office of Antimicrobial Resistance under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, pending in Congress, what other regulations and requirements could be part of the future for hospital-acquired infection prevention? -
Oversight group holds RCA teams accountable
The Joint Commission requires a "thorough and credible" root cause analysis (RCA) for all Sentinel Events, but the process is sometimes less effective than hoped. Quality leaders at the Mayo Clinic came up with a novel solution: An oversight group to keep the process on track. -
Improving surgical outcomes with data tool
The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) began in 1994 in response to concern over the quality of care, specifically operative mortality rates, in VA hospitals. Since then it has expanded to all hospital settings and come under the auspices of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). -
Getting board members on board with education
Several states are re-energizing hospital board member education efforts with moves to certify and mandate educational requirements. Minnesota has started a voluntary certification program, and New Jersey has passed laws to require education. -
Is the 'Patients' Right to Know' constitutional?
Dubbed the "Patients' Right to Know Amendment," Florida's Amendment 7 has hospital watchdogs and consumer rights groups up in arms about what is constitutional and what should be revealed about hospitals' peer review records. -
The Joint Commission talks about pain
Joint Commission announced it is launching a campaign to help people work with their care providers in managing pain. -
CMS extends deadline for HCAHPS data