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Cleaning patient's rooms may not seem like the most important job in the hospital. But environmental service workers save lives in their own way by preventing the spread of infections. A new spotlight on their role may boost the resources, communication and training focused on this group of workers.
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An unannounced inspector from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) walks into the hospital and summons the infection preventionist. Looking down at a clipboard, he asks: "What were the last two hospital acquired infections that were serious preventable adverse events in the hospital, [meaning they caused] patient harm or death following development of the infection? What was done about each?"
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In the latest in a remarkable surge of infection prevention initiatives, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent healthcare associated infections in dialysis facilities.
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Growing anti-regulatory pressure in a down economy to say nothing of presidential politics as an election year looms are making it exceeding difficult for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to advance its controversial proposed infectious disease standard to protect health care workers.
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Like EDs, emergency medical service (EMS) providers have also been struggling with drug shortages in recent years.
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Emergency department managers should take note of a couple of standards that had very high non-compliance rates for the first six months of 2011, according to data released by the Oakbrook Terrace, Il-based Joint Commission.
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In addition to tracking drug shortages, the Drug Information Service at the University of Utah Healthcare in Salt Lake City, UT, has also attempted to figure out why the shortages are occurring. The underlying causes aren't all well-understood, but some of the problems are clear.
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One of the ways busy EDs are attempting to manage long wait times is by enabling patients who do not need immediate care to make an appointment to be seen in the ED one or two hours in advance.
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There was no one precipitating study or finding that prompted the Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Joint Commission (JC) to issue a Sentinel Event Alert regarding the radiation risks of diagnostic imaging, stresses Ana Pujols McKee, MD, the JC's executive vice president and chief medical officer.
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Hospitals have been accustomed to dealing with sporadic drug shortages for more than a decade, but now both pharmacists and clinicians are scrambling to keep up with a problem that has proven to be unpredictable and challenging.
