Opioid use disorder plays significant role in many sepsis cases

The Sepsis Alliance is highlighting the intersection of sepsis and opioid use disorders. The Sepsis Alliance Institute recently hosted a webinar on this topic. The webinar featured Chanu Rhee, MD, MPH, associate hospital epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Simeon Kimmel, MD, MA, attending physician at Boston Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Rhee and Kimmel were recently interviewed by HealthLeaders. The following transcript of that conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

CMS has officially put out guidance to its own state survey agencies that all its onsite surveyors should be fully vaccinated, and it expects the same of accrediting organizations, who are responsible for their own compliance. Therefore, CMS says “certified providers and suppliers are not permitted to ask surveyors for proof of their vaccination status as a precondition for entry.”

The Joint Commission (TJC) is collaborating with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) to offer TJC-accredited hospital laboratories recognition for excellence in their field.

Newsletter: Patient Safety Monitor Journal
The importance of medication reconciliation is obvious. When taken together, certain medicine combinations can cause harmful effects. Therefore, keeping an updated record of all the medicines a patient is taking, and the dosage of each, is essential for their well-being.

Newsletter: Medical Environment Update
After two years of watching and waiting, I have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. I realize that this is nothing special. Millions of others have caught the virus, and some have had a far more devastating time with it than I. Like many others, I have no idea where the infection came from. I didn’t spend time with anyone known to be infected, I wore the required PPE at work, and I’ve been following good safety and infection practices everywhere else. The same is also true for most of those who get healthcare or laboratory-associated infections—80% of reported lab infections are from unknown sources! Since infections occur anyway even if we take precautions, does that mean utilizing safe work practices is a waste of time?

Newsletter: Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
The International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) has released its Executive Protection Guideline 06.03. As of January 2022, it was in the process of finalizing the guidance. It has issued the following statement as part of the guidance: Enhanced security measures should be developed for the safety of individuals who may be exposed to elevated personal risk due to their employment, high-profile status, affiliations, or geographical location.

Newsletter: Healthcare Safety Leader
OSHA’s two COVID-19-related emergency temporary standards (ETS) requiring specific worker protections as well as vaccinations are both on hold for now but you may still be held responsible for those worker protections.

Newsletter: Inside Accreditation & Quality