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May 2025 Newsletter
In the News This Month
Greetings Everyone,
We want to wish Nurses everywhere a very Happy Nurses week! All of us at C&A are so appreciative of what you do, and for your dedication and passion to patient care. Thank you so much!
This month’s articles highlight a couple of items from our observations in the field; managing sample medication and the importance of having an outside expert “set of eyes” during a mock survey.
Sample medications are an excellent resource for patients. However, organizations are not always handling these medicines with proper controls and practices. Our article “Sample Medications Management Essentials for Safe Practice,” authored by Chris Pratt, Senior Consultant & Accredited Provider Program Director provides an outline for safe practices necessary for organizations to implement in order to provide safe patient care.
Our 2nd article, “That Extra Set of Eyes Could Help”, co-authored by Denise Smith, Head of Consulting & Senior Consultant and Ronda Katzman, Head of Operations, provides insight as to the importance and benefits an outside expert can provide when performing a mock survey for an organization. A must read when contemplating the pros and cons of an in-house or out sourced survey readiness and patient safety assessment.
Thank you for taking the time to read our articles. We hope this information is helpful in assisting you with accreditation and regulatory compliance needs. If you have any suggestions for future topics or require our services, please reach out to us at info@courtemanche-assocs.com. Our team is always available and eager to assist you in any way we can.
- By Christopher Pratt, MS, BSN, HACP-CMS, Senior Consultant & Accredited Provider Program Director
Sample medications are an excellent resource supporting effective patient care. Learn practices that support safe medication management.
The Author
Chris Pratt is Senior Consultant & Accredited Provider Program Director with Courtemanche and Associates with more than 33 years in clinical and leadership experience working in varying healthcare positions from the bedside to the Boardroom. In this role, he is responsible for assessing healthcare organizations’ readiness for licensing, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. He is trained in the survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination utilized by The Joint Commission, DNV, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations. He assists organizations with post-survey activities, education, patient safety strategies, and quality improvement initiatives and has experience in various health care settings including acute care, behavioral health, and ambulatory care settings.
- By Denise E. Smith, RN, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS, Head of Consulting & Senior Consultant
Mock surveys have a direct impact on survey execution and outcomes. Learn the benefits an expert set of eyes can
The Author
Denise Smith, RN, BS, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS
Denise Smith is Head of Consulting & a Senior Consultant with Courtemanche & Associates. In this role she is responsible for assessing healthcare organizational readiness for licensing, certification, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. She has extensive knowledge in the requirements of The Joint Commission, DNV, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services including knowledge in their survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination. She also has knowledge and experience in AAAHC and other regulatory and accreditation organizations. She assists organizations with survey preparation, educational needs, post survey activities, patient safety strategies and quality improvement initiatives. Denise has more than 40 years of experience and expertise in Infection Prevention, Sterile Processing, Legal Nurse Consulting, Quality and Resource Management, Clinical Education, in acute inpatient and outpatient care settings.
April Spotlight Observations
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.
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