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| JCAHO Warns Facilities Against Impostors
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Responding to reports of individuals attempting to gain access to medical facilities by posing as JCAHO officials, the accreditation agency is advising facilities to verify the identities of visiting surveyors.
According to Joe Cappiello, JCAHO's vice president of accreditation field operations, two southern California facilities reported incidents last month in which impostors claiming to be JCAHO surveyors sought entry.
It wasn't the first time the Joint Commission had heard of such situations. In the spring of 2005 facilities in Boston, California, Detroit and elsewhere reported incidents of impostor surveyors to the accreditor's administration, says Mr. Cappiello, after which JCAHO alerted the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to the unusual events.
"We have scratched our heads over this, honestly," says Mr. Cappiello. He says the organization has generally ruled out the possibility of tampering or terrorism as a motive, suspecting instead attempts to steal narcotics, antibiotics, patient identities or portable medical equipment.
Facility employees should ask to see surveyors' JCAHO identification badges, which feature embedded holograms, upon their arrival, says Mr. Cappiello. Facilities can verify their survey date and assigned surveyors — even for unannounced surveys — through JCAHO's Extranet site, on which details and authorization will be posted by 7 a.m. on the day of the visit.
Surveyors have been instructed to expect delays while facilities verify their identities, says Mr. Cappiello, who advises facilities who encounter impostors to contact local law enforcement authorities as well as their local JCAHO account representative or the accreditation field operations office at (630) 792-5757.
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| Study: Patient Safety Incidents Increased in U.S.
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The number of patient safety incidents occurring in American hospitals continued to rise during a three-year period, resulting in the deaths of more than 304,000 patients, about 250,000 of which could have been prevented, according to a study released last week.
In its third annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals study, healthcare ratings organization HealthGrades found that Medicare beneficiaries experiencing one or more patient safety incidents had a one-in-four chance of dying during their hospitalization — a rate the organization said has not changed since it began studying the subject.
"There's definitely a disappointment that we have not improved the way we'd hoped we would have," says Samantha Collier, MD, MBA, vice president of medical affairs at HealthGrades. "Things have not changed that much, but attitudes are changing."
The study showed that 1.24 million patient safety incidents — including failure to rescue, decubitus ulcer (bed sores) and post-operative sepsis — occurred during the nearly 40 million hospitalizations under the Medicare program between 2002 and 2004. Between 2001 and 2003, the number of incidents stood at 1.18 million, and between 2000 and 2002 it was 1.14 million. The most recent study's incidents were associated with $9.3 billion in excess costs.
Ranked by the occurrence of incidents in hospitals, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas topped the list of states whose hospitals exhibited the highest average of patient safety. New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Tennessee and the District of Columbia ranked last.
"Minnesota was able to, over time, get hospitals to buy in to the fact there's real opportunity for improvement when you set aside your competitive differences and share the best practices and worst practices," says Dr. Collier. "It's impacted patient safety across the state." Minnesota was the first state to enact a law requiring healthcare facilities to public report occurrences of the National Quality Forum's 27 adverse events.
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| Pa. Patient Safety Authority Reports Propofol Mishaps
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The number of patient safety incidents occurring in American hospitals continued to rise during a three-year period, resulting in the deaths of more than 304,000 patients, about 250,000 of which could have been prevented, according to a study released last week.
In its third annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals study, healthcare ratings organization HealthGrades found that Medicare beneficiaries experiencing one or more patient safety incidents had a one-in-four chance of dying during their hospitalization — a rate the organization said has not changed since it began studying the subject.
"There's definitely a disappointment that we have not improved the way we'd hoped we would have," says Samantha Collier, MD, MBA, vice president of medical affairs at HealthGrades. "Things have not changed that much, but attitudes are changing."
The study showed that 1.24 million patient safety incidents — including failure to rescue, decubitus ulcer (bed sores) and post-operative sepsis — occurred during the nearly 40 million hospitalizations under the Medicare program between 2002 and 2004. Between 2001 and 2003, the number of incidents stood at 1.18 million, and between 2000 and 2002 it was 1.14 million. The most recent study's incidents were associated with $9.3 billion in excess costs.
Ranked by the occurrence of incidents in hospitals, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas topped the list of states whose hospitals exhibited the highest average of patient safety. New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Tennessee and the District of Columbia ranked last.
"Minnesota was able to, over time, get hospitals to buy in to the fact there's real opportunity for improvement when you set aside your competitive differences and share the best practices and worst practices," says Dr. Collier. "It's impacted patient safety across the state." Minnesota was the first state to enact a law requiring healthcare facilities to public report occurrences of the National Quality Forum's 27 adverse events.
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| News and Notes
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The number of patient safety incidents occurring in American hospitals continued to rise during a three-year period, resulting in the deaths of more than 304,000 patients, about 250,000 of which could have been prevented, according to a study released last week.
In its third annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals study, healthcare ratings organization HealthGrades found that Medicare beneficiaries experiencing one or more patient safety incidents had a one-in-four chance of dying during their hospitalization — a rate the organization said has not changed since it began studying the subject.
"There's definitely a disappointment that we have not improved the way we'd hoped we would have," says Samantha Collier, MD, MBA, vice president of medical affairs at HealthGrades. "Things have not changed that much, but attitudes are changing."
The study showed that 1.24 million patient safety incidents — including failure to rescue, decubitus ulcer (bed sores) and post-operative sepsis — occurred during the nearly 40 million hospitalizations under the Medicare program between 2002 and 2004. Between 2001 and 2003, the number of incidents stood at 1.18 million, and between 2000 and 2002 it was 1.14 million. The most recent study's incidents were associated with $9.3 billion in excess costs.
Ranked by the occurrence of incidents in hospitals, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas topped the list of states whose hospitals exhibited the highest average of patient safety. New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Tennessee and the District of Columbia ranked last.
"Minnesota was able to, over time, get hospitals to buy in to the fact there's real opportunity for improvement when you set aside your competitive differences and share the best practices and worst practices," says Dr. Collier. "It's impacted patient safety across the state." Minnesota was the first state to enact a law requiring healthcare facilities to public report occurrences of the National Quality Forum's 27 adverse events.
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