CRBSIs: Reduce Infection Risks by Maintaining Integrity of Vascular Access Device Dressings

This is the first of a 3-part series focusing on catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). As catheter use increases, bloodstream infections (BSIs) resulting from intravascular catheters have become a costly complication of health care. To start, the terms CRBSI and central line–associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) are often used interchangeably to describe intravascular device (IVD)–related bloodstream infections.…

Procedure Kits: Where Common Sense Makes Financial Sense

PROCEDURES WHERE KITS HELP Vascular Access Devices PIV Starts CVC Insertion PICC Lines Epidurals Dressing Changes Surgical Procedures In our last blog, we reviewed how standardization of procedure kits can help your facility by increasing overall compliance to best practices. Yet another advantage of procedures kits is the financial benefit. A case in point is…

Procedure Kits Help Drive Compliance Best Practices

Most likely, your practice has standard operating procedures to ensure consistency and quality of care. In fact, an article in Modern Healthcare cited that 30% of inefficiencies in our healthcare system today are driven by a lack of standardization and a lack of care coordination.1 In the pursuit of creating “best practices” in your facility,…

A Lesson in On-Demand Educational Resources: What every nurse should know about social media

Eloquest Healthcare welcomes guest blogger, Elizabeth Campbell, RN, MSN, CRNI. Liz has over 20 years’ experience in IV therapy. She is currently the Presidential Advisor of the New England Chapter of the Infusion Nurses Society. Liz recently completed an appointment to the National Council on Education for the Infusion Nurses Society. Her passion is teaching the art of infusion…

SSIs and Post-Op Dressings: What’s Missing?

You might remember from our previous blogs that certain measures, like surgical site infections (SSIs) are penalized in multiple programs of the Affordable Care Act—in the Value-Based Purchasing Program as well as the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program. View Blog #2 and Blog #3 here. SSIs are the most common and costly of all hospital-acquired infections…

CAUTI Prevention: A Nurse-Driven Quality Improvement Study

As posted previously, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established penalty measures for the performance of acute care hospitals. In fact, some measures are penalized in multiple programs1,2: VALUE-BASED PURCHASING PROGRAM (VBP) – For more information about the VBP Program, see our previous blog.  HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED CONDITIONS (HAC) REDUCTION PROGRAM – For more information about the HAC…

Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program

Our last blog provided some background on the READMISSIONS REDUCTION PROGRAM —a three-year rolling process of reporting all-cause readmissions within 30 days of discharge, along with potential penalties.1  Today, we’ll look at the third program established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA): the HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED CONDITIONS (HAC) REDUCTION PROGRAM. HAC REDUCTION PROGRAM allows the Centers for…