Demonstrations of Nasal and Nasopharyngeal swab sample collection use FLOQSwabs(TM) by COPAN and COPAN’s Universal Transport Media (UTM). Additional videos demonstrate proper technique for Nasal Aspirates and Nasal Washes.

Proper sample collection plays an important role in obtaining proper test results for patients.

The Joint Commission unveiled a Targeted Solutions Tool to help physicians and hospitals spot one of 29 problems that can lead to an incorrect procedure. The commission’s Center for Transforming Healthcare tested the safety tool at eight U.S. hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.

Initial figures pose that facilities using the tool see an decrease in wrong-site procedures by 63% in pre-op, 51% in the operating room and 46% in the scheduling area. Because wrong-site surgeries are so rare, the risks of such procedures — rather than their occurrence — was measured for quality-improvement purposes. The new strategy is meant to be used in conjunction pre-op verification, site-marking and time-out process known as the universal protocol.

The 2012 SAFE CARE Patient Safety Education Program is a free offering developed to assist health care organizations in educating patients to help prevent medical errors. The campaign features videos from The Joint Commission’s Speak Up(TM) campaign, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kimberly-Clark, the Patient Channel(R) from The Wellness Network, and Safe Care Campaign. The goal of the SAFE CARE Patient Safety Education Program is to save lives, prevent harm and help patients receive safer care.

The SAFE CARE Program utilizes free posters that hospitals can hang in patient rooms which allows patients and families to instantly access and watch safety videos by topic on their own smart phones by simply pointing a smart phone at a QR code on the poster, or texting the word “SAFE” to 411247 to receive a link to Safe Care’s safety video library. The nine short videos address the most common patient safety issues in hospitals such as hand hygiene, preventing infections, avoiding medication errors, patient falls, and more. Organizations are also able to customize the videos for a nominal fee.

Statements from campaign participants: Being informed by asking the right questions, gathering information and gleaning knowledge is one of the most powerful ways for patients and caregivers to join with medical professionals to ensure safe and effective outcomes. As part of patient safety, we believe that infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility, so we are supporting the Safe Care Patient Safety Education Program designed to educate patients, caregivers and visitors about what to address when preparing for or receiving medical care.

Notes: An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org .

The seven new members include:

health care executive John A. Babiarz, COO, ARAMARK Healthcare, a public member on the board; L.D. Britt, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, appointed by the American College of Surgeons; Albert J. Osbahr, III, M.D., and Stephen R. Permut, M.D., J.D., both appointed by the American Medical Association; David Pryor, M.D., appointed by the American Hospital Association; and David Henry Perrott, D.D.S., M.D., M.B.A., FACS, appointed by the American Dental Association. In addition, Joan M. Doyle, R.N., M.S.N., M.B.A., executive director, Penn Home Care and Hospice Services, University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), Philadelphia, will represent the home care field as a Commissioner. Current behavioral health care field representative Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D., commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health, and current long term care field representative Connie S. March, R.N., M.S.N., president and CEO, Provena Life Connections will become full voting members of the Board.

The Joint Commission also announced the re-appointment of Isabel Hoverman, M.D., MACP, as 2012 chair of the Board of Commissioners. Gerald Shea will serve again as vice chair.

Previously, the field representatives voted on Board committees, but not at the full Board.

Full details of the program and fact sheets here.

Nash Hospitals received hospital accreditation for services offered at Nash Health Care. The Hospice program at Nash General Hospital earned Home Care accreditation as a result of its Joint Commission survey.

The accreditation is for three years.

Nash Health Care is a nonprofit hospital authority comprised of five licensed hospitals totaling 403 beds: Nash General Hospital, Nash Day Hospital, the Bryant T. Aldridge Rehabilitation Center, Community Hospital and Coastal Plain Hospital.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care and considered the world leader in evaluating quality and safety of care delivered in all types of healthcare settings. JC accredits more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. TJC standards are developed with input from doctors, nurses, medical directors, providers, subject matter experts, consumers, government agencies and employers.

For example, in a 2004 study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Landrigan and colleagues found that interns in intensive-care units who worked 30-hour shifts on a regular basis made five times as many diagnostic errors and 36% more serious medical errors as those who worked no more than 16 consecutive hours at a time.

The Joint Commission’s alert is the latest in a series labeled to draw attention to the issue of fatigue-related safety risks. In June 2010, 26 experts in medicine, sleep science and patient safety gathered at a conference at Harvard Medical School to discuss ways to implement the Institute of Medicine’s 2009 recommendations for resident work hours.

The results of that conference were published in a NSS-19649-implementing-the-2009-institute-of-medicine-recommendations-_062111, which included guidance on imposing work-hour limits and redesigning the handoff process.

The ratings used 22 measures in five categories — heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, and children’s asthma — but not all hospitals report their results on all measures to the commission. To be included on the list of 405 top hospitals, a hospital had to meet each of the measures it reports 95 percent of the time.

Download the full report here.

“Making a Difference — Ambulatory Care Accreditation” will provide hands-on education from Joint Commission experts. They will provide insight to standards, the survey process, ideas for continuous patient safety efforts, and solutions for successfully maintaining compliance. The conference will feature expert presentations from several organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and will focus on electronic health records, telemedicine and infection control for the ambulatory care setting.

A pre-conference seminar on October 3, 2011, will spotlight The Joint Commission’s new option for ambulatory care organizations — designation as a Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH). This session will offer information about the survey process and other related activities associated with achieving the PCMH designation.

Register online at http://www.jcrinc.com .

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