You now have a chance to weigh in on proposed revisions to Joint Commission emergency management standards as well as long-delayed revisions to the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) chapters on sterile and non-sterile compounding.

The recent research article, which was published by Critical Care Medicine, describes the results of a randomized, controlled quality improvement initiative conducted at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland. The article features data collected from 598 patients, with 285 patients in the intervention group and 313 in the standard care group. The intervention involved using a sepsis early warning system embedded in the health system’s EHR. The early warning system is based on structured EHR variables used to predict whether a patient will develop sepsis during their hospitalization. The variables include demographic data, vital signs, laboratory results, orders, and comorbidities.

Handoff process marks five years of success

Failures in communication frequently prompt medical errors, which make up one of the leading causes of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. Patient handoffs present an especially high risk for communication errors. The Joint Commission has found that communication mistakes made during patient handoffs are a root cause for more than two-thirds of the most serious errors that befall patients. In addition, handoff communication errors can lead to financial costs and reputational harm.

To combat these risks, I-PASS has developed methods for improving communication during transitions—and the I-PASS Institute has just celebrated its fifth year using its process. Partnering with more than 100 U.S. hospitals, the I-PASS Institute and the I-PASS Study Group have seen significant successes over the past decade:

Hospitals, clinical laboratories, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) accredited by HFAP showed improvements in 2020. Fewer organizations faced repeat deficiencies than in prior years, and there was a strong showing in overall emergency management. There’s always a question about whether accreditation provides measurable added value, says Deanna Scatena, BSN, RN, CCRN, associate program director for HFAP, the oldest of the four hospital accrediting organizations (AO). The ability of hospitals and other healthcare organizations to present a strong showing, she says, even in a year with the burgeoning nationwide COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates that value.

Getting your patients and staff out of harm’s way is always the number one priority during an evacuation, and it might not always be practical to do a step-by-step lockdown of your facility or take all the valuables you need. But if you can do this without putting anyone needlessly at risk, you should. Just because one thing is the top priority doesn’t mean it’s the only priority. Leaving those questions to be decided in the moment is how harm and mistakes occur, says Kurt Patton, MS, RPh, pharmacist, founder of Patton Healthcare Consulting and a former director of accreditation services for The Joint Commission (TJC).