Articles
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Performance Goals and Indicators for the Hospital’s Physical Environment
ACHC Standards are structured to align with a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement framework. Within each chapter, standards identify…
Avoiding Medical Record Errors in Office-Based Surgery Settings
Maintaining comprehensive medical records is essential to safe, high-quality care that meets accreditation standards and HIPAA requirements, and would serve as…
Mastering Informed Consent
Questions posed during ACHCU’s monthly Coffee Chat live webinar often serve to reveal opportunities to extend education and develop additional resources for ACHC-accredited hospitals. In March 2025, the topic was medical record documentation.
Bridging the Gap: Connecting Hospital Physical Environment and Life Safety Standards
From a facilities perspective, protecting patient and staff safety are the hospital’s biggest priority. To ensure this safety, all aspects of the facility must be constructed, arranged, and maintained to meet a range of regulations.
Advance Directives Require Important Considerations
Advance directives rank among the most important legal documents in the healthcare setting. They come into use when a patient is incapacitated and cannot provide informed consent for care or cannot actively participate in care planning. Among the various types of advance directives, the most common in the healthcare setting are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.
Clinical Leadership Has an Essential Role in Nursing Services for Surgical Settings
Clinical leadership is a critical role for ensuring patient safety in the surgical setting, and, in many cases, it’s a requirement of state and federal regulations.
Assessing Competencies Helps Ensure Quality and Safety of Patient Care
Competencies are not just requirements in health care. They are crucial aspects. Competencies play pivotal roles in ensuring patient safety, quality and continuity of care, and operational efficiency. As a healthcare professional, your role in identifying and addressing competence-related issues is paramount.
Time Out: Working to Ensure Operating Room Mistakes Don’t Happen
Did you know that the “time-out” performed in healthcare operating rooms was adapted from the aviatio¬¬n industry’s practices? Aviation’s pre-flight checklist and communication protocols reduced errors and enhanced safety.
Verifying Personnel Credentials Is a Crucial Task for Hospitals
Your latest hire might not be the healthcare professional you think you hired for your acute care hospital. Did you check? A multi-state scheme to sell fake nursing diplomas should serve as a crucial reminder about the importance of verifying credentials for all licensed personnel.
Medication Safety for Office-Based Surgery
Office-based surgery (OBS) centers are an attractive choice for patients seeking surgery outside the hospital setting. Not only are these centers providing quicker access to scheduling and lower out-of-pocket costs, but also they are increasing the variety and complexity of cases being performed in the office-based setting.