After providing additional training to its surveyors to increase oversight of a hospital’s plan of correction, The Joint Commission (TJC) has been approved by CMS to accredit psychiatric hospitals for participation in Medicare for another six years.

With greater burden on staff and a rising shortage of personnel, organizations are turning to technology to alleviate the stressors that are driving staff away or preventing them from practicing at the top of their license. One way they’re accomplishing this is automating tasks wherever possible. In fact, McKinsey says that roughly a third of all healthcare provider tasks are automatable.

Medical error prevention is a complex problem without a simple “one-size-fits-all” solution. However, there are some things that healthcare organizations can do.

Even those of you who know most of my back story might not necessarily have made the connection (there are certainly ample clues on LinkedIn), but my first 20-plus years in healthcare were spent working at an acute care hospital in Brockton, Massachusetts—recently the scene of a fairly significant event that resulted in the entire facility being evacuated in the wake of the smoky fire in an electrical room.

Do you need to update your hospital’s sign detailing its responsibilities under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA)? What do you do when law enforcement asks for medical records?

Be sure you understand the requirements of your state or local fire authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) when evaluating the annual testing of your hospital’s medical gas program.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community often experience discrimination, and that can extend to the realm of healthcare. A community member’s wellness can be put at risk due to healthcare workers’ lack of experience or training, not seeking care out of fear of being stigmatized or discriminated against, or any one of many other social determinants of health.

Hand hygiene remains a perennial issue in healthcare and requires constant vigilance on the part of providers. With the “tripledemic” of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus this winter, facilities need to ensure staff are following the organization’s hand hygiene policies and encourage patients and visitors to do the same.