Joint Commission offers new HAI Portal
Reducing the risk of health care-associated infections (HAI) is a priority for surgeons, who have long led the way in introducing clinical approaches, such as antibiotic prophylaxis and antimicrobial...
View ArticleSafeCare offers quality framework in resource-restricted settings
As health care professionals, surgeons are aware of the gap between the care patients in resource-restricted countries receive and the ideal standard of care. The reasons for such disparities include a...
View ArticleFlu vaccination standards set for ASCs and OBSs
In order to receive accreditation from The Joint Commission (TJC), ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based surgery (OBS) practices must establish an annual influenza vaccination program for...
View ArticleASCs begin using wrong site surgery tool
Wrong site surgery is considered a rare event; however, some estimates put the national rate as high as 40 per week. The costs are many, including the loss of public trust and the threat of malpractice...
View ArticleSurgical care measures show significant progress
New data collected by Joint Commission-accredited hospitals show significant progress in compliance with evidence-based care processes linked to improved outcomes for surgical patients. The Joint...
View ArticleBuilding consensus on ways to minimize overuse of five treatments
To help reach a consensus on ways to reduce the use of five common medical treatments that are sometimes employed unnecessarily, The Joint Commission and the American Medical Association (AMA)...
View ArticleUsing simulation to achieve high reliability
Surgeons and other health care professionals seeking to improve the safety and quality of health care are turning to new methods to achieve highly reliable care that is free from defects. One such...
View ArticleACS and The Joint Commission partner on project to decrease risk of...
A collaborative project of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aimed at reducing colorectal surgical site infections (SSIs) saved seven...
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Joint Commission accreditation reaches 20,000 mark
The Joint Commission recently achieved a significant milestone—the accreditation or certification of 20,000 health care organizations with the addition of the Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital in Oklahoma...
View ArticleJoint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, SCHA collaborate on...
The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare and the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) have teamed up to launch the South Carolina Safe Care Commitment. The initiative, which is the...
View ArticleUsing Lean methodology to improve sterilization of surgical instruments
Proper sterilization of instruments used in surgical procedures is a crucial step toward reducing surgical infections, perioperative morbidity, and operative time and cost. Although health care...
View ArticleMedical device alarms pose safety issues for hospitals
The constant beeping of alarms and an overabundance of information transmitted by medical devices, such as ventilators, blood pressure monitors, and electrocardiogram machines, is creating “alarm...
View ArticlePreventing surgical fires
Fires rarely occur during an operation, but the estimated 650 surgical fires that do break out every year can inflict serious damage in a matter of seconds, according to the ECRI Institute, a...
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News for physicians from physicians
Joint Commission Blogs Web page A new blog, JC Physician, has been launched to share information on Joint Commission initiatives designed to support physicians and health care institutions in their...
View ArticleFinding new solutions to hand hygiene problems
Hand hygiene is an important issue for improved surgical patient outcomes in that it helps prevent the risk of infection. Nonetheless, compliance with hand hygiene requirements is still a significant...
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Implementation guide offers effective strategies to combat SSIs
Reducing surgical site infections (SSIs) is a very real challenge—one that must be addressed to make health care more reliable and to improve patient safety. A new implementation guide published by The...
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Hospitals making improvements in use of evidence-based surgical processes
New data reported by Joint Commission-accredited hospitals show significant progress in compliance with evidence-based care processes that have been linked to improved outcomes for surgical patients....
View ArticleAction urged to prevent retained surgical items
The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert urging hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to take a fresh look at how to avoid leaving items such as sponges, towels, and instruments in a...
View ArticleBlameless or blameworthy errors: Does your organization make a distinction?
Preventable patient harm events result in millions of dollars in additional care as well as the unnecessary grief and suffering of patients and their families. A strong safety culture allows for the...
View ArticlePhysicians invited to play a larger role in standards process
Surgeons and other physicians know The Joint Commission for its accreditation of hospitals and development of the standards that guide many aspects of an institution’s daily operations and have an...
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