AUDIENCE: Risk Manager, Surgery, Cardiology

ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare professionals of a Class I recall of the St. Jude Medical, AMPLATZER TorqVue FX Delivery System. In a small number of cases, the distal end of the core wire of the TorqVue FX Delivery System could potentially fracture when exposed to a combination of certain cardiac anatomies and usage conditions.

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring manufacturers of Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist to lower the recommended dosage for these medications and their generic counterparts commonly prescribed to treat insomnia.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense,  has issued a new version of its successful TeamSTEPPS® program aimed specifically at improving safety of care for residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities including assisted living and retirement communities.

TeamSTEPPS® is a research-based program created with the […]

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has released a new set of standards for the way information and instructions are arranged and worded on prescription drug labels to make them easier for patients to read and understand.

Click here for a copy of the new standards [PDF].

This is the first time USP has provided direction […]

Health Leaders Media has reported that daily implementation of a practice known as universal decolonization reduced bloodstream infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), by 44 percent in a recent study conducted by researchers from Harvard, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study involved 75,000 patients in 74 adult ICU’s […]

A report published in the October issue of Medical Care and funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicates that one in seven elderly patients admitted to hospitals for injuries are readmitted within 30 days.

In performing the study, researchers examined data from the 2006 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases as well as […]

The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) announced the release of its new white paper, Call to Action: Safeguarding the Integrity of Healthcare Quality and Safety Systems. The paper aims to foster a strong and just safety culture that offers a protective infrastructure so that all clinical professionals feel empowered  to share the responsibility of eliminating […]

A nationwide patient safety initiative utilizing the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) and funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) decreased the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units by 40 percent.

This CUSP project is the largest of its kind to date. The project engaged 1,100 adult […]

In a recent memo, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denied requests to relax its policy on the safe use of single does/single use medications.

New research, conducted at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital and presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 61st Annual Scientific Session, has shown that use of a 27-question, heart failure discharge checklist reduced the 30-day readmission rate of a cardiac event from 20 percent to only 2 percent.