As I was cruising through the updated State Operations Manual from CMS, I happened upon something that I can honestly say I’d not really “seen” before. And so, I direct you to a para...

Fill in the blank: Hospitals are expected to provide information to patients in a format that the patient can understand and comprehend. This information should be appropriate to _____________, ______...

The Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality has announced that it is the latest organization to receive deemed status for acute care hospitals from CMS. This allows CIHQ’s hospital accredit...

The results of our latest benchmarking survey, the annual Accreditation Professional Salary survey, have been posted to the AHAP site. Click the link above to get the results. ...

In an interesting turn, the FDA has released recommendations for improving cybersecurity for medical devices and hospital networks. In this month's column, we will review those recommendations and als...

The Joint Commission announced in June a new National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) aimed at improving the safety of clinical alarm systems. The goal is currently planned for implementation on January 1,...

Welcome to "HIPAA demystified," the first in an ongoing series. Everyone now lives in a world of HIPAA, yet many-indeed, most of us-are not professional practitioners, but simply people who brush agai...

On April 5, 2013, CMS released a proposed rule to the Survey, Certification and Enforcement Procedures, at 42 CFR §488 and 42 CFR §489. The proposed rule significantly strengthens the oversight by CMS...

The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal 07.05.01 on surgical site infections has been modified, and surveyors have currently stopped citing organizations that are out of compliance with el...

While we are on the subject of the CMS, you may be interested to know that an update of the State Operations Manual (which is basically the foundation resource for the conduction of CMS surveys) was u...