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CDC Updating Measles Guidelines for HCWs
The CDC is preparing to review its guideline for measles and healthcare workers, as the once-eradicated childhood infection spreads in ongoing outbreaks in the U.S. and Europe.
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High-risk Patients, High-risk Infections
If there is a worst-case scenario in infection control, it likely involves a life-threatening infection spreading in a vulnerable patient population. They don’t get much more vulnerable than babies in a neonatal ICU, or adults undergoing bone marrow transplant. With their frail immune systems compromised, central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) pose a serious threat warranting an immediate infection control response.
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Twin Peaks: A Persistent Norovirus Outbreak
A nasty, easily transmitted bug
that has ruined many a cruise vacation, norovirus can cause chaotic, labor-intensive outbreaks in hospitals. In that regard, an infection preventionists recently described a norovirus outbreak that kept reigniting in different locations in a situation somewhat akin to fighting a forest fire in high wind. -
Resistance to Change? Try Motivational Interviewing
How do you get someone to change behavior when simply telling them to do so is met with resistance — the “righting reaction” as APIC closing plenary speaker Sanjay Saint, MD, terms it. One approach is called “motivational interviewing,” which first demonstrated efficacy in the addiction field, said Saint, director of the University of Michigan Patient Safety Enhancement Program.
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Novel Approaches to Change Behavior and Protect Patients
Much of infection control work — a frustrating portion to many IPs — is trying to change human behavior. One need look no further than the historic struggle with hand hygiene and the various carrots and sticks that have been dangled and cracked in the name of compliance for decades.
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Changes to Readmissions Rule Will Help, But No Panacea
A significant number of hospitals are set to benefit from changes in how CMS calculates penalties under the value-based Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), but the proposed rule won’t solve all their problems related to readmissions, says Bill Bithoney, MD, formerly CEO, CCO, and CMO at Sisters of Providence Health System in Springfield, MA, and now a managing director at BDO International consulting in New York City.
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Initiating Medication-assisted Treatment for Patients Presenting With Opioid Withdrawal
With a new report showing dramatic surges in both ED visits and hospital admissions because of problems related to opioid misuse, it’s clear that current approaches to the problem are not sufficient.
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Look to Social Determinants of Health When Building Post-acute Ties in ACOs
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) that involve case management in the entire care continuum often build post-acute care relationships to help their teams find solutions to patients’ social determinants of health issues.
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Opioid Overutilization Management Program Paves Way for Success
Healthcare organizations could learn a great deal about developing an opioid management program by following some of the best practices created as a result of the federal Medicare mandate for health plan sponsors.
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Pain Management in Workers’ Comp Has Evolved to a Holistic Approach
Psychosocial aspects of chronic pain are much better understood today than a generation ago. What healthcare organizations now know is that each person’s pain after an injury or surgery is different.