Setting priorities for reducing risk and advancing patient safety

We set priorities every day in both our personal and professional lives. Some decisions are easy, while others require much more thought, participation, and resources. The difficult or less appealing priorities may not be popular, may receive push‐back, and may be resource intensive. Whether personal or professional, the urgency that accompanies true priorities becomes a driving force. It is that urgency to ensure our patients' safety that brings many of us to work each day. This is not easy work. It requires us to be knowledgeable about the enterprise we are working in and to have the professional skills and competence to facilitate setting the priorities that allow our organizations to minimize risk and maximize value.     

EMTALA obligations for psychiatric patients

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was passed in 1986 and governs the obligations of licensed hospitals that participate in the Medicare program with respect to patients with emergency medical conditions. Psychiatric units and facilities often believe that it does not apply to them, or they are cavalier in their efforts to comply with it. If the entity is a licensed hospital, or operates within a licensed hospital, that participates in Medicare, the Act is fully applicable to them. Such entities disregard EMTALA at their peril.     

ASHRM member benefits and programs enhance patient safety

ASHRM's 2013 ongoing theme—“Everyone is a Risk Manager” (ERM)—emphasizes the vital role that all healthcare workers hold as guardians of patient safety, every single day. Each and every employee must take ownership of risk and recognize their part in the patient safety process.     

“Ticket to ride”: How useful is this new handoff tool?

Patient handoffs come in many forms, some of which are permanent (the provider will not get the patient back) and some of which are temporary (the provider will get the patient back). The danger inherent in temporary handoffs is that the temporary provider will not have sufficient information, or will not have time to gather the necessary information, to provide care for the patient safely. The “ticket‐to‐ride” tool, in addition to the verbal handoff communication, can be used to provide temporary providers of care with a salient synopsis of the patient's condition to protect the patient during an absence from the floor or unit. This article gives guidance on the development of a ticket‐to‐ride form.