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You may think your hospital is doing a good job of preventing common errors that result in patient deaths, but the American Medical Asso ciation (AMA) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) think you can do better. In fact, they think hospitals in the United States can save 100,000 lives between now and June 2006.
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Women increasingly are electing to give birth by cesarean when there is no medical necessity to do so; meanwhile, the debate about the safety to the mother continues.
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In a new report, the Institute of Medicine calls for conventional medical treatments and complementary and alternative medical (CAM) treatments to be held to the same standards for demonstrating clinical effectiveness to make it easier for health care providers and the public to make evidence-based decisions about CAM use.
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Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are lifesaving devices, as demonstrated by a 2004 study that showed ICDs reduced death by 23% in people with moderate heart failure and poor pumping function, compared to patients who did not receive ICDs. But what if that lifesaving device outstays its welcome and prolongs death because its users havent discussed when their ICDs should be deactivated?
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Its illegal, it may undermine international treaties, and there are warnings that patient safety is at risk but for many, the cost savings of buying re-imported drugs outweighs all the arguments against it.
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Imagine the moment when surveyors leave after your next Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) survey or when you just have submitted your organizations periodic performance review (PPR). You may be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief but if noncompliant areas are identified, your work has just begun.
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Serious adverse events can result when unauthorized family members, caregivers, or clinicians administer patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for the patient by proxy, warns a Sentinel Event Alert issued by the JCAHO.
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Health care organizations everywhere are using focus groups of consumers to critique services, rate educational materials, offer feedback on patient safety, or register kudos and gripes about the quality of patient care.
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To comply with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations new National Patient Safety Goal to reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls, you must assess and periodically reassess each patients risk of falling including the potential risk associated with the patients medication regimen and take action to address any identified risks.
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If youre expecting that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations proposed revisions to medication management standards will add to your workload, youre probably right.
