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November 2022 Newsletter
In the News This Month
Greetings Everyone,
We hope that each organization had a great time last month celebrating National Healthcare Quality Week! We thank each and every one of you for working diligently to improve the safety and quality of care your organization delivers.
This month our focus continues on keeping you aware of items of concern we are seeing in the field, and to which regulatory surveyors are heavily focused on..
Sterile instrument safety, specifically the use of instrument identification tape and the weight of the instrument containers are two areas that accrediting and regulatory agencies are again citing. Our feature article, “Instrument Taping and Tray weights – Let’s Talk Sterile Processing,” by Denise Smith highlights the pitfalls that can occur when taping is used, and tray weight is not considered as a component of the processing procedures. Denise also offers best practices for optimal safety to avoid patient harm.
Our Observations from the Field series would not be complete without including Environment of Care and Life Safety concerns to be aware of. Pat Cook’s article, “Environment of Care & Life Safety Observations from the Field” touches on findings in these two areas which often are frequently cited and carry considerable risk.
We hope you find these articles informative and helpful in assisting you with your ongoing regulatory readiness. Please reach out to us at info@courtemanche-assocs.com for additional information or any service needs you may have.
- By Denise E. Smith, RN, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS, Head of Consulting & Senior Consultant
Learn best Sterile Processing practices for use of instrument identification tape and the weight of instrument containers. incorporate.
The Author
Joseph Esch, MBA CHFM
Joseph Esch is a Life safety surveyor and consultant. He is trained under the HFAP Acute Care and Critical Access Hospital requirements, as well as The Joint Commission accreditation requirements for the physical environment, fire safety, Life Safety Code®, and Emergency Management chapters. Joseph has 14 years in healthcare, his primary focus is the operations, plant and the physical environment. He has assisted in the planning and initial startup of facility programs in several acute care facilities, including the implementation of CMMS, compliance program, capital forecasting, and facility condition indexing and has been chairman of the EOC committee. He currently holds a Certified Healthcare Facility Manager certification issued by the American Hospital association in 2015 and is a member of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers and the local chapter of Chesapeake Area for Healthcare Engineers.
- By Patricia Cook, BS, R.Ph, HACP-CMS, Head of Consulting
Learn about Environment of Care and Life Safety Findings commonly found during survey which often lead to condition level findings.
The Author
Our healthcare accreditation & regulatory compliance team are experts in the healthcare industry and collectively sharing more than two centuries of healthcare knowledge, wisdom & guidance. Our core team along with our top-notch partners provide a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and guidance to assist you with performance improvement and regulatory success.
C&A is a division of SAYAS Alliance. Through our sister company Medical Resources Network, we also offer a range of legal nurse consulting services, including medical record review and analysis, medical chronologies, peer review, retention of medical experts, and adverse event and call center management. Learn more.
Disclaimer: The information on this website is published in good faith for general information purposes only. This website does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information.
The Joint Commission® is a registered trademark of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Courtemanche & Associates has no affiliation with this entity.