Patient Safety

The consequences of negligent credentialing can be costly to a healthcare organization and its medical staff services department. Organizations that want to renew their focus on credentialing can follow several best practices to protect themselves and ensure they’re doing all they can to remain compliant.

On October 17, 2014, The Joint Commission released the new “Patient Safety Systems” (PS) chapter online, which was included in the 2015 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual. If you’d like to read the chapter, you can download the full-text here. The Joint Commission shares PreCheck’s core values of patient care and safety.

Generational diversity is rapidly changing the workforce dynamics, and this includes the healthcare workplace. Each generation has their own priorities, attitudes, communication styles, work approaches and ways of interacting with colleagues, which can influence organizational culture and performance. Although these differences can bring new challenges to the workplace, they can also play a key role in delivering better care to patients.

2014 was phenomenal year for the PreCheck Blog. Not only did we double the amount of articles featuring healthcare experts and best practices, but the PreCheck Blog also won multiple prestigious awards, including being recognized as “Best Blog Website” by the Web Marketing Association. As we look forward to another great year of best practices for healthcare compliance, HR, and medical staff services teams, here’s a look back at the top ten most-read PreCheck Blog posts from 2014.

As we near the end of the year, healthcare human resources departments are looking for new and inventive ways to promote safety and improve quality scores at their organization. As our nation shifts toward value-based payment models, employers are applying new methods to reduce length of stay and readmission rates, streamline discharge transition processes and improve diagnostic procedures.

The following are four common best practices presented by five case studies in U.S. healthcare institutions.

As healthcare organizations look at different ways to improve patient care, employee surveys remain an important part of the mix. Employee surveys are a great way to get a feel for what’s going on at your organization, identify areas for improvement in employee engagement and performance, and discover ways to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Last month, The Joint Commission released its 2014 Annual Report, in which it recognizes over 1,200 hospitals for outstanding performance on key quality measures. According to the November 13 announcement, more than 3,300 Joint Commission accredited hospitals have steadily improved individual accountability measures over the past few years. The following is my brief overview of this year’s report.

I recently discussed how physician criminal cases are often underreported, so having a physician background screening policy in medical staff services can help support better patient care. This week, I would like to focus on the subject of continual or ongoing background screening. Background checks represent a snapshot in time, and what will show up five, two or even a year from now on an applicant’s criminal background history may be different.

With the healthcare industry focused on patient satisfaction, you may be wondering what more you can do to ensure your organization’s patients have a great experience. Personalities of the people who interact with patients can play a big role in the patient experience. Using a personality assessment tool can help your organization get the right people in the right positions to improve patient care and your Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores.

I had the opportunity to attend the National Association Medical Staff Services’ (NAMSS) 38th Educational Conference in New Orleans last week. While it was my first NAMSS conference, PreCheck has supported the organization as a sponsor for years. Although probably not surprising at this point, it was apparent that the medical services profession is currently experiencing a period of change and transition.