Health Begets Health

The Joint Commission issued alert that highlights the hazards of health care worker fatigue and offers strategies to mitigate it. The alert listed nine steps providers can take to lower the risk of harm, including redesigning work schedules, educating staff about the dangers of long hours and encouraging a culture of safety.

Continue reading “Alert on Fatigue and Strategies to Mitigate”

The Joint Commission released its first list of top hospitals, using metrics meant to track quality of care. The list skewed small and rural hospitals. The metrics measure how well hospitals carry out processes of care that the group thinks should be standard for all patients with certain diagnoses. Examples include giving a person who is having a heart attack aspirin upon arrival at the hospital or the use of corticosteroids in children admitted with asthma. Continue reading “Joint Commission Releases Top Hospital List”

Ambulatory care health care leaders will gather in Chicago October 4-5, 2011, for The Joint Commission’s 16th Annual Ambulatory Care Conference. The conference will focus on discovering strategies to demonstrate quality of care to payers, regulatory agencies, and managed care organizations. The program is sponsored by Joint Commission Resources. Continue reading “Joint Commission Ambulatory Care Accreditation Conference Oct. 4-5”

Diagnostic tools are an important component of medical care. However, over-reliance on certain tools is a cause for concern. The Joint Commission issued a sentinel event alert on diagnostic radiation in medical imaging, urging doctors to pay greater attention to the long-term hazards of repeated X-ray exposures.

In the alert, the Oak Park, Ill.-based health care accreditation group suggested a handful of strategies, such as swapping X-ray based scans for ultrasound or MRI, when appropriate, and adhering to dose-lowering guidelines put out by the American College of Radiology and other medical societies. Continue reading “Sentinel Alert on Repeated Xray Exposure”

SwedishAmerican Health System, including SwedishAmerican Hospital, SwedishAmerican Medical Center/Belvidere, SwedishAmerican Home Health, and SwedishAmerican Medical Group clinics, has received accreditation from the Joint Commission as a result of its demonstrated compliance with The Joint Commission’s nationally recognized health care standards.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission is dedicated to continuously improving the safety and quality of the nation’s health care through voluntary accreditation. The Joint Commission’s on-site survey of SwedishAmerican occurred in early April. Continue reading “SwedishAmerican Health System Receive Joint Commission Accreditation”

The Joint Commission “Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Laboratory and Point- of-Care Testing (CAMLAB)” has been updated to provide clarity, additional specificity and detail to the standards and elements of performance. A preview of the new manual is posted on The Joint Commission web site, and laboratories will be surveyed against the new manual beginning in July 2011. Continue reading “Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Laboratory and Point- of-Care Testing (CAMLAB) Updated”