September 2023 Newsletter

In the News This Month

Greetings Everyone,

Safety as an organizational priority is paramount. Teamwork, patient involvement, openness/ transparency, and accountability are all key factors for success. Denise Smith's article "What is Culture of Safety," highlights the benefits for healthcare organizations to promote a safe and supportive environment within an organization, as well as suggestions to enhance their culture of safety practice.

An important component in combating patient risk is addressing the disparities that exist in our healthcare system. One area of great concern is the rise in pregnancy deaths, in particular, those caused by Maternal Hemorrhage. In this month’s article, "Preventing Maternal Hemorrhage From a Healthcare Disparity & Safety Perspective," Co-authors, Anne Kelly and Denise Smith suggest robust strategies healthcare organizations can enact to ensure awareness for staff and patients and mitigate the risks.

We hope you find these articles informative and helpful in assisting you with your ongoing regulatory readiness. Please feel free to reach out to us at info@courtemanche-assocs.com with any topics you would like to see featured or for any service needs you may have.

Culture of safety diagram

Aug 31 2023

Culture of Safety
What is Culture of Safety? Culture of Safety is how an organization's culture supports and promotes patient safety. It refers to the values, beliefs, and norms that are shared by healthcare practitioners and other staff throughout the organization that influence their actions and behaviors. Patient safety culture can be ...
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About the Authors

Denise Smith, RN, BS, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS

Denise Smith is 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.

Denise Smith, Senior Consultant
Colorful people in a circle to represent equality in healthcare

Aug 31 2023

Preventing Maternal Hemorrhage – a Healthcare Disparity & Safety Perspective 
In combating the risk of maternal hemorrhage, it is critical to closely examine the presence of health disparities as contributing factors. The CDC (2023) reports that 80% of all pregnancy deaths are preventable, along with the significant risk that Black women face in being three times more likely to ...
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About the Authors

Anne Kelly, EdD, BSN

Anne Kelly is an Associate Consultant with Courtemanche and Associates. In this role, she is responsible for assessing healthcare organizations’ readiness for licensing, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. Anne is trained in the survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination utilized by The Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations. She assists organizations with pre-survey, intra-survey and post-survey activitieseducation, patient safety strategies, and quality improvement initiatives.

With more than 30 years of clinical and leadership experience working in varying healthcare positions, Anne has held various Quality, Accreditation and Patient Safety leadership positions. As Chief Quality and Compliance Officer with Acadia Healthcare, a leading provider of Behavioral Health services in the United States, she led the enterprise-wide Corporate Compliance Program and quality initiatives.

Denise Smith, RN, BS, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS

Denise Smith is 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.

Anne Kelly, EdD, BSN, Associate Consultant
Denise Smith, Senior Consultant

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