Retiring Nurses Causing Brain Drain, Affecting Care
Intellectual knowledge drain is on the horizon as veteran nurses retire or leave the profession. This may result in a trickle-down effect that will negatively impact patient care. Healthcare facilities need to create action plans to address the problem and transfer critical knowledge to other staff members. Click here to read more.
Editor’s Note: This issue will also impact the practice of case management. An article by Joan Bowman titled Case Management Succession Planning in the Case in Point Leadership Issue (May 2008, available on the right-hand column here) provides important information that all leaders in the practice may want to seriously consider.
WHO Recommends Ways To Reduce Surgical Errors
The World Health Organization released a 22-point checklist for surgeons and their teams to review before, during and after a surgical procedure. The goal is to maintain patient safety and surgical efficiency and effectiveness. Click here to listen to the report from NPR. You can also download the checklist from the site if you want to review it with your risk management team.
FDA Recommends Heart Studies for Diabetes Drugs
An advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday voted 14-2 in favor of requiring makers of diabetes medicines to conduct studies on the long-term cardiovascular effects of their products before launching them onto the market. The recommendation could “in the worst case bring to a halt any new diabetes drugs for some time,” one healthcare analyst said. Click here to read more.
Lung Infections Tab: $10 Billion
Pneumonia ranked number two behind childbirth as the most common cause of hospital admission in 2006, and it cost U.S. hospitals more than $10 billion that year, according to new data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The analysis also found that heart attacks cost hospitals $12 billion and congestive heart failure treatments cost $11 billion. Click here to read more.
Has the ‘Secret Shopper’ Concept Gone Too Far?
More hospitals are using mystery “shoppers” to evaluate the quality and delivery of medical services, to help gain the perspective of a patient and to gain an edge on the competition. However, some experts say the practice diverts time and attention from real patients and can create distrust among staff within a facility. Click here to read more.
