The Environment of Care, Infection Prevention & Control and Life Safety have been consistently cited as the top survey findings from 2018 and into 2019.
Will 2020 be different?
We believe the focus will remain high in these 3 categories – along with other items like Suicide Prevention, Pain/Opioid Management, Staff Competencies, Leadership and Patient Rights.
Organizations can improve their chances of compliance by: 1) Having effective multi-disciplinary committees that are continuously monitoring the proper regulatory standards, 2) Teaching staff how the environment, the buildings and their hygiene practices integrate into patient care and 3) Communicate findings from rounds (EOC and Leadership) throughout the hospital and not just to a select few individuals.
As the saying goes in Quality “what is focused on, is what gets improved” is true. The question that should be asked within all organizations today is ‘WHAT will be focused on this year’? The first step to success is to conduct the necessary Risk Assessments to determine where the organization is currently and what are those high priority, high impact areas that require additional focus to reduce the chances of ‘Harm’ to a patient.
We wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year. Zero Harm to patients is within reach.