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Medical Environment Update

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Issue

Spot check your facility’s holiday decorations

October 23, 2023

Environment and Facilities, Workplace safety

It comes with the territory of being the safety officer that you are responsible to make sure holiday decorations do not affect the overall safety of your facility. The Life Safety Code®, which CMS an...

Healthcare Safety Leader

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Issue

It's always a good time to review your fire safety plans

October 23, 2023

Natural & Manmade Disasters, Environment and Facilities, Patient Safety, Fire & Life Safety

OSHA addresses fire safety under the General Industry Standards (29CFR1910). Facilities under construction should consult the edition of the of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) Life Safety C...

Inside Accreditation & Quality

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Issue

Mock tracer for waived testing

December 13, 2025

Accreditation & Survey Preparation

Safety concerns and potential for erroneous errors have made the Waived Testing (WT) chapter a common area of focus for surveyors during patient tracers. Surveyors will observe staff while performing ...

Healthcare Safety Leader

- Volume

Issue

CDC encourages hospitals to evaluate HVAC systems to ensure effective infection control

December 13, 2025

Environment and Facilities, Physical environment

As cases of COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continue to persist and influenza season picks up, the CDC is urging hospitals to check the efficiency of their heating, ventilation, and air...

Accreditation & Quality Compliance Advisor

- Volume

Issue

Disparities evident among races in postsurgical deaths

December 13, 2025

Patient Safety, Health Equity

Compared to white patients, Black patients are 42% more likely to die following high-risk surgery and Hispanic patients are 21% more likely to die. Overall, about 8,364 Black and 4,338 Hispanic excess...

Mac's Safety Space

- Volume

Issue

Mac's Safety Space: HVAC operations—Better breathing ahead?

December 13, 2025

Environment and Facilities, Physical environment

Well (at least up here in the Northeast), it appears that the cooling season is rapidly changing over to the heating season and, (so it would seem) the advocacy season is heating up as well. Late l...

Inside Accreditation & Quality

- Volume

Issue

Strengthen ePHI authentication and access standards

October 16, 2023

Cybersecurity & Technology

Robust authentication processes are often the first line of defense against cyberthreats. The June 2023 Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Cybersecurity newsletter emphasizes the importance of strong authe...

Patient Safety Monitor Journal

- Volume

Issue

What to know about the CDC’s hospital sepsis program core elements

December 13, 2025

Infection Control

If your facility doesn’t already have a sepsis program or wants to revamp its existing program, the release of the CDC’s new hospital sepsis program core elements marks a good place to start. Released...

Medical Environment Update

- Volume

Issue

Lab Safety Man: The risk of disaster

December 13, 2025

Laboratory Safety

Living in Virginia, hurricane season usually has me thinking about lab disaster plans and the risk of a real natural disaster. In the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the highest hurricane ri...

Inside Accreditation & Quality

- Volume

Issue

Be Ready for the Unannounced Survey Process

October 30, 2023

Accreditation & Survey Preparation, Fire & Life Safety, Physical environment

As the result of a CMS directive, unannounced surveys for organizations started in 2006. If you are undergoing a deemed status survey, your visit will be unannounced except in certain circumstances, s...

Spot check your facility’s holiday decorations

It's always a good time to review your fire safety plans

Mock tracer for waived testing

CDC encourages hospitals to evaluate HVAC systems to ensure effective infection control

Disparities evident among races in postsurgical deaths

Mac's Safety Space: HVAC operations—Better breathing ahead?

Strengthen ePHI authentication and access standards

What to know about the CDC’s hospital sepsis program core elements

Lab Safety Man: The risk of disaster

Be Ready for the Unannounced Survey Process

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OSHA Dental Facilities Update - November 2023

OSHA Medical Facilities Update - November 2023

Tab 2, Medical Facilities OSHA Manual- August 2023

Tab 2, Dental Facility OSHA Manual- August 2023

Chapter 2: Chapter Format and Tracer Planning