Joint Commission announces publication of 2020 accreditation, certification manuals
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 25 announced publication of the 2020 manual for Disease-Specific Care Certification and four fall updates to the current accreditation manuals. Coming in November are the 2020 accreditation manuals for all programs.
Mayo Clinic Care Network reduces hospital stays with ERPs
Editor's Note An Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) created by the Mayo Clinicโs colorectal surgery service a decade ago has now been adopted by other surgical services in seven medical centers that are members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the October 15 Harvard Business Review reports. The ability of each…
Laminated posters, badge buddies on NPSGs available from Joint Commission
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on October 23 that laminated posters and badge buddies on the 2020 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) for hospitals are now available for purchase. Areas covered by the NPSGs include: Patient identification Infection prevention Patient safety risks Safe surgery. The posters and badge buddies…
Consensus report shows burnout prevalent in healthcare clinicians
Editor's Note Clinician burnout is affecting between one-third and one-half of nurses and physicians and 40% to 60% of medical students and residents, according to a new consensus report by 32 institutions and foundations, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Among the ways to fight burnout discussed in the…
Joint Commission launches new Dashboard Report for ASCs
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 23 announced that a new Dashboard Report is now available for accredited ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The report provides performance measurement data on select measures and is intended to facilitate conversations on data, performance measures, and quality improvement during the survey process. Using…
One in three patients have side effects after ketamine infusion
Editor's Note Ketamine use has grown as a pain management alternative to opioids, but more than one in three patients experience side effects such as hallucinations and visual disturbances, finds this study, which was presented October 21 at the Anesthesiology 2019 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Duke University researchers categorized…
ECRI Institute: Diagnostic testing, medication events pose biggest safety risks to ambulatory care patients
Editor's Note New research from the ECRI Institute finds that diagnostic tests and medication events are the most frequent safety risks patients face in ambulatory care. ECRI Instituteโs โDeep Dive: Safe Ambulatory Care, Strategies for Patient Safety & Risk Reductionโ identifies solutions for five types of safety challenges in ambulatory…
Patients feel less pain when healthcare provider is nice
Editor's Note Patients having blood drawn by courteous healthcare providers were significantly more likely to say their pain was well-controlled, finds this study presented October 20 at the Anesthesiology 2019 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Analyzing responses from 4,740 adult patients on questions about pain control (range from 1 to…
CDC updates 1998 guideline for infection control in the healthcare workplace
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 18 released an update to its โGuideline for infection control in healthcare personnel, 1998.โ The updated document, โInfection Control in Healthcare Personnel: Infrastructure and Routine Practices for Occupational Infection Prevention and Control Services (2019),โ applies to a broader range…
Medical marijuana research shows early promise for lessening opioid use
Editor's Note Medical marijuana shows early promise for lessening opioid use and potential abuse in a meta-analysis presented October 20 at the Anesthesiology 2019 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Overall the results suggest that medical marijuana may provide some benefits such as, decreased opioid overdose rates, decreased opioid use, improved…