Patient Safety

Infection Control Expert Writes Patient Empowerment Guide

We all assume that going to the hospital will help us recover from an illness or injury. Going to any facility where a lot of other sick people are treated, however, can result in patients actually getting worse before they get better, simply because they “catch” someone ...More
June 26, 2012
Posted in News
Who Owns the Patient Outcome? We All Do!

In today's ever-changing healthcare environment, patients demand more advanced procedures and equipment that take the pain and recovery time out of surgery. While they seek these advancements, they have forget how complicated it is to clean, inspect and test this advanced ...More
June 18, 2012
Posted in Articles, Disinfection & Sterilization
Ecolab Participating in World Health Organization Initiative to Improve Patient Safety

Ecolab Inc. announces that it is participating in a major World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by improving hand hygiene compliance rates in healthcare facilities around the world. According to a recent WHO report, of ...More
June 15, 2012
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
ECRI Institute Helps Healthcare Workers Eliminate Preventable, Serious Safety Events

In honor of Healthcare Risk Management Week, ECRI Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, will provide special content on its Patient Safety Blog (www.ecri.org/blog) to help eliminate preventable ...More
June 15, 2012
Posted in News
AORN and the Joint Commission Recognize National Time Out Day

In a letter sent today by email to hospital and ASC leadership, the Joint Commission’s president, Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, and AORN’s executive director/CEO Linda K. Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN, urged facility administrators to use National Time Out Day ...More
June 12, 2012
Posted in News
Infections, Medical Errors and Injuries Still Rampant, but Some Hospitals are Safer Than Others

Approximately 400 people die every day because of a preventable hospital error – the equivalent of a jet crashing every day and killing all aboard. In response to this silent epidemic, more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals will now receive an A, B, C, D or F Hospital Safety Score ...More
June 7, 2012
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene, Policies and Practice
Five Effective Ways to Prevent Harm

Each day, people rely on their local hospitals to heal them. But these hospitals are also where thousands will acquire dangerous and potentially lethal infections, adverse drug events, or other harms. ...More
May 31, 2012
Posted in Articles
Peter Pronovost Named Recipient of ABMS' First Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) announces that Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, FCCM, has received the first ABMS Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award. This award recognizes extraordinary national or international contributions to the fields of quality ...More
April 26, 2012
Posted in News
Patient Safety Leaders Propose 'NTSB for Healthcare'

Successful safety efforts from aviation provide critical lessons for addressing the "crisis of waste and harm" in the U.S. healthcare system, according to a special article, “An NTSB for Healthcare – Learning from Innovation: Debate and Innovate or Capitulate,” in the April ...More
April 26, 2012
Posted in News
An Imperfect Measure of Hospital Safety

The failure to include hospital-acquired infections or medication errors as a performance indicator limits the utility of the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s (CIHI) new hospital benchmarking tool, critics say. Moreover, they add, the tool doesn’t provide ...More
April 25, 2012
Posted in News