• Hospital makes staff preparedness a priority

  Early on September 15, The Joint Commission posted on its extranet news that surveyors would be arriving at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. By 8 a.m., surveyors and hospital representatives converged in the lobby for the first of a five-day survey that would assess compliance in the hospital and home care accreditation programs.

  

• Immediate-threat-to-life situations in 2009

  With the introduction of Life Safety Code^® (LSC) surveyors to The Joint Commission’s survey process, the opportunity for hospitals to find themselves in preliminary denial of accreditation due to an immediate-threat-to-life situation—a situation so problematic that the lives or health of patients are immediately endangered—increased this year.

  

• Hospitals undergo process to change accrediting organizations

  CMS announced September 26 that it had granted deeming authority to Oslo, Norway–based Det Norske Veritas, Inc., (DNV) to accredit hospitals.

  

CMS announced September 26 that it had granted deeming authority to Oslo, Norway–based Det Norske Veritas, Inc., (DNV) to accredit hospitals.

AHRQ distributes planning model for emergency evacuations

Leaders advocate culpability for patient safety

Poll: Environmental services and infection prevention should collaborate

Universal Protocol FAQs offer clarity for compliance

A New Look!

What are CMS' expectations for handling grievances?

What are the three NPSG requirements for suicide risk assessment policy regarding hospitals with psychiatric units?

During an emergency, For how many hours must hospitals be ready to stand alone?