This week, we’re celebrating National Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 8-14, 2020). According to the Institute for Health Improvement (IHI), National Patient Safety Week is an annual recognition event meant to encourage everyone to learn more about health care safety.
According to the ECRI Institute*, diagnostic testing and medication events are the two greatest risks to patient safety in ambulatory care centers today. As the landscape continues to change and healthcare delivery shifts from hospitals to ambulatory facilities, we will have to develop, and enhance, systems that minimize risks and keep our patients safe. Using the services of a consultant pharmacist can help you enhance patient safety in your ambulatory healthcare facility. The following are five ways in which a consultant pharmacist can help:
Is your facility ready for survey? As a consultant pharmacist, I work with ambulatory healthcare facilities to continuously guide and support best practices to ensure patients are safer and surveys are easier, and in this blog, I share insights from my years of experience in this field.
Is your ambulatory care facility ready for survey? Ok, ok: that’s probably a rhetorical question as you never feel truly ready, right? Though surveys are routine events for facilities, they can still be unnerving. No matter how prepared you may be, it’s only human to become a bit anxious when faced with an unannounced ‘pop quiz’.
If you manage an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) or other ambulatory healthcare facility, benchmarking is probably a concern for your organization. Benchmarking is not just a requirement of accrediting agencies such as the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) and The Joint Commission (TJC): it’s a critical component of quality assessment and improvement.
Drug shortages are still coming up quite frequently in facilities. Is your policy and procedure describing what to do when you have a drug shortage up to date? Do you follow the steps noted in your policy? Is your consultant pharmacist helping by providing you with updated regulatory guidance?
We are thrilled to welcome our three newest partners, facilities who have asked us to help them enhance patient safety, reduce risks and increase survey success.
Beginning January 1, 2021, all prescriptions for controlled substances and medical devices in Massachusetts must be issued electronically unless covered by an exception. This week we discuss the steps you need to take to be prepared because even though it is a year away, it is important to take this time to prepare.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) recently reminded ambulatory surgery centers of the requirement and steps required to submit healthcare personnel (HCP) influenza data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Healthcare Safety network (NHSN) by May 15, 2020. Is your documentation complete? Are you prepared to comply with DPH and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) requirements?
It’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month and as your consultant pharmacist we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you about scheduling your regular comprehensive eye exam.
