Commitment and vigilance to standardized procedures at every level of the organization create a highly reliable culture of patient safety. Two critical opportunities for improvement identified during our recent Joint Commission survey were adherence to the procedural consent process and observance of the universal protocol, otherwise known as the “time-out.” These standardized procedures must be […]
As a follow up to Quality Update: Key Feature of Wave 3 Helps Providers Improve Documentation of Major Comorbid Conditions, let’s look at documentation of malnutrition: Malnutrition should be specified by degree: Mild, Moderate or Severe. There are several criteria that our registered dietitians review when determining the degree of malnutrition. These criteria follow guidelines […]
Candida auris (C. auris) is a fungus that can cause serious illness in people who are sick or immunocompromised. While C. auris is not considered a widespread threat to the general public, it can cause complications and death for immunocompromised individuals in hospitals, nursing homes, and other care settings. Why It’s a Threat The CDC […]
A best practice alert (BPA) will now remind providers to regularly review their patient’s antibiotics and determine if the antibiotics can be stopped or the spectrum narrowed. If you want to modify the antibiotic, you must go into manage orders. BPA appears when the antibiotic is with 72 hours of expiring (click on images to […]
As a follow up to Quality Update: Key Feature of Wave 3 Helps Providers Improve Documentation of Major Comorbid Conditions, let’s review congestive heart failure (CHF). In order for CHF to be correctly coded from the medical record, the following needs to be addressed in your progress notes: Type: Diastolic, Systolic or combined Diastolic and […]
Accurate documentation of major comorbid conditions (MCC) is critical for patient care and hospital reimbursement. It also directly impacts our publicly reported quality scores and value-based purchasing. In Wave 3 of the Epic Refuel, the Admission Navigator will have a new “Co-morbidities” section that suggests patient-specific diagnoses based on real-time vitals, labs, and other data […]
Effective April 29, 2019, the ability to edit charts for hospital visits only will be locked down in Epic after specific timeframes. If a provider needs to edit a chart for a specific encounter after the established timeframe, they will need to access the chart through a designated lockdown PC monitored by medical records (HIM). […]
Wave 3 of the Epic Refuel project begins next Monday, April 29. Here are eight changes and enhancements that providers will see: Blood Administration: Providers would no longer need to choose the number of units for nursing Transfuse XMatched order. It will automatically default to the units ordered. Blood Component BPA: To reduce blood transfusions, […]
Timely documentation is critical for safe patient care and provider communication, prevents delays to coding and billing, and is required by NJ state regulations. As per Englewood’s Medical Staff Rules and Regulations, failure to comply with these regulations results in suspension, and subsequent voluntary resignation if a provider remains suspended for more than 6 consecutive […]
The Epic Refuel Wave 2 went live yesterday, March 13. A number of enhancements and changes were introduced affecting providers. Highlights are below. Any questions regarding these changes may be directed to Michelle Wu, one of our IT Clinical Education Coordinators, at michelle.wu@ehmchealth.org. Auto discontinue Activity, Weight-bearing and lifting orders: Activity, Weightbearing and lifting orders […]