When considering the organizational objectives, we have to know three essential pieces of the puzzle before we can even begin.
Incorrect interpretation of drug abbreviation’s can lead to serious harm for patients. Consider the following: At 7:00 AM, Jane, a registered nurse enters the details for Mary, the last of her five patients as she completes a 12-hour shift. As the day begins, Ann is checking on patients and reviewing their charts. She is confused by an abbreviation “MTX” for a medication given to Mary at 4:30 AM. It can be interpreted as methotrexate (used for rheumatoid arthritis) or mitoxantrone (a cancer drug). Continue reading
In my May 2015 article on Risk-Based Thinking (RBT), I discussed the current state of healthcare related to risk and our current performance as a profession. Since that article, there have been other journal articles that showed improvements in our performance, related to risk, which we all know translates to patient safety. Today I see that 241 hospitals appeared on the CMS HAC (Hospital Acquired Conditions) list for the third year in a row. Continue reading
Bob is a hockey fan. His Facebook timeline is filled with posts about his favorite team and his search for tickets. Bob also works in the department of Health Information Services for a major hospital in a large city. One day Bob receives an email at work informing him that he has won two tickets to the upcoming semi-finals in which his beloved team will be top seeded. Finally entering in every contest for free tickets that popped up on social media had paid off! He eagerly clicks on the link but nothing seems to happen. The next week the hospital’s network is down and a shadowy group is demanding thousands of dollars to unlock critical records. Continue reading
As I mentioned in the previous article, Healthcare Privacy, Farrah Fawcett and Blockchain, a blockchain is a distributed database that acts as a ledger for transactions. It is best known as the technology behind Bitcoin, a type of digital currency that is both easily accessible and very secure. Blockchain technology allows users to transfer bitcoin anonymously and securely while still insuring that the data itself is trustworthy. Continue reading