In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not to Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions

Guest Post by Sheri Fink, ProPublica At 9:30 p.m. Monday, Eugene Tangney burst into a meeting of doctors at the command center for Long Island’s North Shore-LIJ hospital system. Ceiling tiles creaked in the wind and television screens showed images of Hurricane Sandy slamming into New York City. “NYU called,” Tangney said. “They want to evacuate. I don’t know how to help them right now. They’re in a panic mode.” Tangney, a senior vice president,…

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Patient-Centric Care at the Hub of Telehealth

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA The conundrum continued behind conference doors last week at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) conference in Tampa about the efficacy of mobile phone usage to improve patient health. Lively discussions followed about the ROI for chronic disease management through mobile health and outcomes for remote patient monitoring focusing on whether telemedicine is excluded from meaningful use and reasons why telehealth should be a key component in Accountable Care Organizations…

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Time to Eliminate Dangerous Injection Practices by Clinicians

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Thanks to Laura Landro for shining light on unsafe injections in her WSJ blog, “Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts.” Landro writes: “A new push is underway to eliminate unsafe injection practices, which remain a persistent safety problem despite years of efforts to educate clinicians about the risks of re-using needles, syringes and drug vials. In the U.S., failure to follow safe practices in delivering intravenous medications and…

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Teamwork in Medicine is Critical for Quality Patient Care

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA From KevinMD’s medical blog, guest post by Toni Brayer, MD shares a story where a team approach in medicine is critical for quality patient care. Dr. Bryer writes: “Medicine is a team sport and it is only when the team is humming and everyone is working together that patients can have good outcomes.  Hospital errors, medication errors, poor communication between doctors and nurses are prevented by adherence to protocols…

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Transparency is Critical for Safe Quality Patient Care

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston is determined to eliminate preventable harm to patients by increasing transparency. Documented on the BIDMC’s website, a list of hospital wide measures including infections, hand hygiene and nursing care are highlighted.  Keeping track of central line infections, hand hygiene, pressure ulcers and falls, Levy is determined to eliminate preventable harm to patients. Aggressive goals have been set…

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