The 2021 OR Manager Conference in Chicago saw John R. Rosing, MHA, FACHE, executive vice president and principal of Patton Healthcare Consulting, Naperville, Illinois, give his annual update on mastering Joint Commission standards and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) regulations. The past 2 years of COVID-19 restrictions have delayed…

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Editor's Note Please participate in an important nationwide perioperative survey on surgical smoke evacuation. The purpose of the research led by Brenda Ulmer MN, RN, CNOR, is to determine evacuation behaviors in hospitals before COVID-19, and then note changes as the virus continued to spread in the US. Ulmer and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on November 10, released a new Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 64: “Addressing healthcare disparities by improving quality and safety.” The Alert summarizes strategies for healthcare and human services organizations as they begin to address healthcare disparities, and it provides examples of successful initiatives already underway.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on October 27, announced that it will launch a new Comprehensive Heart Attack Center Certification in July 2022 and is seeking comments on the newly proposed standards. The Joint Commission also has revised standards for its current certification programs: Acute Heart Attack Ready and Primary…

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  Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on October 20, announced a new Quick Safety—“Organization-wide cybersecurity: Creating a culture of defense.” Cybersecurity can no longer be viewed as just the province of the IT department. It must be the responsibility of all staff that have access to digital information, electronic health…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 12 announced that it will implement new and revised Performance Improvement (PI) and Leadership (LD) accreditation standards for its Laboratory Accreditation Program, effective January 1, 2022. The revisions factor in two common themes of organizations with successful improvement programs: Adoption of an established…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on October 6, announced that it has begun using a hybrid approach with a document review surveyor during deemed hospital re-accreditation surveys meeting eligibility criteria, primarily a fully electronic health record (EHR). The hybrid approach consists of a surveyor working remotely (via Zoom or Microsoft…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on September 29, released new sentinel event data for the first 6 months of 2021. The summary data of sentinel event statistics for the first half of 2021 covers 16,695 incidents reported from 1995 through June 30, 2021. Of these sentinel events: 47% led to…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on September 15, announced that the deadline to participate in the Institute for Safe Medication Practices’ (ISMP) Medication Safety Self Assessment for Perioperative Settings has been extended to December 10. The self-assessment helps those in perioperative settings see how well their organizations’ systems and practices…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 8 announced that it has returned to the original volume eligibility requirement for its advanced Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center (TSC) and Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) certification programs, effective September 1. Volume eligibility requirements were lowered in 2020 and into 2021 because of the COVID-19…

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