Patient Safety

Why Documenting Blood Use in Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers Is So Critical

October 4, 2021 / Blood Management, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Patient Safety /

Documentation of supplies in hospitals is extremely important, and when it comes to uncrossmatched blood, also known as O –negative, it becomes absolutely critical. O-negative blood is the most required blood type in Emergency and Trauma centers due to its near universal applicability. Because of its broad applicability, time doesn’t need to be spent verifying […]

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How a New Solution For Blood Bag Tracking Can Help Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers Improve Performance During a Blood Shortage

October 4, 2021 / Blood Management, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Patient Safety /

Type O negative blood is considered the universal blood type since it can be used for most recipients with a minimal risk of infection, making it beneficial in trauma situations where the time to crossmatch blood types is unavailable. However, due to factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic limiting donation opportunities and an increase in

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How a New Breed of Endoscope Channel Drying Cabinets Is Separating Itself From the Pack

September 28, 2021 / Hospital Management, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Uncategorized /

Based on evolving guidance around the reprocessing and disinfection of flexible endoscopes, many hospitals are updating their procedures to include the drying of endoscope channels. This is due to the increasing evidence that simply hanging scopes vertically or flushing channels with alcohol after disinfection still leaves moisture within channels. The Society of Gastroenterology Nurses &

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How a New Method is Reducing Endoscope Channel Drying Times Down to Only 10 Minutes

October 7, 2021 / Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Nearly all infection control and endoscopy societies agree that channel drying is an essential step when reprocessing endoscopes. The reprocessing of flexible endoscopes after use is a complex, multi-step process. Residual moisture within endoscope channels may promote retention and proliferation of waterborne pathogens, and inadequately dried endoscopes have been associated with growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

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Endoscope Channel Drying Is Essential for patient safety. Here’s why.

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

With frequent outbreaks of superbugs being linked to poorly disinfected endoscopes over the last decade, ensuring the cleanliness of endoscopes has been top of mind for many hospitals. While many hospitals have been cited for poor disinfection practices with their endoscopes, there has also been a rise in attention around the effective drying of endoscopes

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How Hospitals Can Help Offset the Rising Costs of Heart Valve Replacement Surgery

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Due to an aging population, the number of patients with heart valve disease requiring valve replacement is expected to rise, reaching more than 800 000 annual procedures worldwide by 2050. The total cost of these surgeries is expected to grow by 10% through 2025, reaching over $10 billion. The cost of an average heart valve to

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The Growing Cost of Medical Implants and How Proper Inventory Management Can Help

September 15, 2021 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Costs of medical implants are growing rapidly and according to one recent estimate, the medical implants market reached $89.2 billion in 2020 and is growing at 6.5% annually. As implants are a required, rapidly growing expense for the healthcare industry, hospitals should manage their implant inventory consciously. Surgery is an expensive and complicated endeavor, and

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Nurses Face Severe Challenges With Supply Chain Issues

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

A new survey conducted by Sage Growth Partners revealed that a vast majority of nurses feel overwhelmed with supply management tasks and are looking for better software tools to help alleviate the burden. The survey reached out to over 100 nurses – 50 nurse leaders and 50 front-line nurses – and asked them a series

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FDA Issues New Warning About Infection Risks From Urological Endoscopes

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a letter to healthcare providers warning about the risk of infection associated with poorly reprocessed urological endoscopes. The letter from the FDA mentions that there have been over 450 Medical Device Reports filed by healthcare facilities that detail the patient infections associated with contaminated cystoscopes,

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Hospitals Are Being Penalized By CMS For Hospital Acquired Infections – How Can They Stop The Bleeding?

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Patient Safety /

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its list of penalized hospitals for 2021 under its Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program. This year’s list includes 774 hospitals that will have their Medicare payments cut by 1% for the remainder of the year. The 774 hospitals represent the bottom quartile of hospitals in terms

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