On the Cover

	Infection control in the US: 2015 year in review In a year when quality and infection control in healthcare has been top-of-mind for healthcare executives as these two elements are increasingly tied to their organizations' bottom lines, it was difficult to choose just five events to highlight in this "year in review" piece. Click here to Continue >>
	3 CMOs, CQOs on the 'biggest win' for patients this year We asked three CMOs and chief quality officers from hospitals and health systems across the nation for a favor: Define the "biggest win" for patients in 2015, in their organization or the industry as a whole. Click here to Continue >>
	Hand hygiene in 2015: 7 findings Most healthcare workers believe that electronic monitoring systems are significantly better for improving compliance than manual methods, although very few hospitals have these systems in place, according to a survey of more than 650 infection preventionists and nurses in the U.S. and 200 in Canada.  Click here to Continue >>

Patient Experience 

Get away from the 'fluff' and 3 other thoughts on improving patient experience
Coordinating an excellent patient experience across hundreds of care settings — hospitals, physician clinics and surgery centers — is no easy feat, but that's exactly what Debbie Landers worked to do while with Brentwood, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. Click here to Continue >>

10 most common patient complaints, grievances with hospitals
Patients are continually asking hospitals to be treated like people, according to Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and senior vice president for patient safety and quality at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine. Click here to Continue >>

Geisinger to begin offering refunds to unsatisfied patients
Geisinger Health System President and CEO David Feinberg, MD, said the Danville, Pa.-based health system is going to start offering a money-back guarantee to patients who receive care at its facilities, according to a Times Leader report. Click here to Continue >>

Number of 5-star hospitals decreases dramatically in CMS Hospital Compare update
CMS updated its Hospital Compare database Oct. 8 with new patient experience survey results, and the number of hospitals receiving a five-star HCAHPS summary rating is down significantly since the last update in July. Click here to Continue >>

1 in 6 patients choose a one-star hospital: 6 new findings from Healthgrades
If all hospitals delivered care of similar quality to hospitals receiving five-star recognition from Healthgrades, the Denver-based consumer healthcare database says 222,392 lives would have potentially been saved over two years. Click here to Continue >>

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

Trading in pens and paper for a 21st century hand hygiene monitoring system
Compliance with hand hygiene guidelines is of utmost importance when it comes to infection control and preventing deadly and costly healthcare associated infections. Click here to Continue >>

HAND HYGIENE

Which advertising strategy prompts hand hygiene compliance most?
Although the attention on hand hygiene compliance in healthcare settings has increased in the past decade, little attention has been paid to the the type of messages used to promote hand hygiene, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. Click here to Continue >>
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/which-advertising-strategy-prompts-hand-hygiene-compliance-most.html

Hospital finds hand hygiene compliance goes up after eliminating mandatory glove use
Less may be more when it comes to hand hygiene protocol, according to a study that reports compliance rose at one facility after it dropped a rule declaring mandatory glove use for all patient interactions. Click here to Continue >>

3 findings on how hand hygiene signage influences patient perception
Signs that encourage clinicians to wash their hands can do more than just boost hand hygiene compliance — they also improve patient and visitor perceptions of the healthcare facility's safety and care quality, according to a recent survey. Click here to Continue >>
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/3-findings-on-how-hand-hygiene-signage-influences-patient-perception.html

EXECUTIVE BREIFING 

Combating sepsis with real-time intelligence
Sepsis, the body's overwhelming and life-threatening response to an infection, is a costly condition that affects more than 1 million Americans every year and accounts for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Click here to Continue >>

INFECTION CONTROL AND PATIENT SAFETY

Medication errors occur in half of all surgeries: 7 study findings
Even at a prestigious academic medical center like Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, medication errors and adverse drug events prove problematic. Click here to Continue >>

Despite limited resources, hospitals make antibiotic stewardship program headway: 7 survey findings
Although they report budgetary resources and frontline physician involvement to be lacking, 70 percent of respondents to an Advisory Board Company survey say they've added an antibiotic stewardship program in the last five years. Click here to Continue >>

Researchers discover way to treat wound infections without antibiotics
New research from Washington State University in Pullman suggests electrical stimulation may be a viable alternative to antibiotics to treat wounds infected with bacteria. Click here to Continue >>

5 essential components of a successful antibiotic stewardship program
The White House, the National Quality Forum and many other groups have spoken out and formed initiatives or coalitions to bring attention to the mounting problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Click here to Continue >>

Scientists urge hospitals to purchase antibiotic-free meat only
The UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco has been phasing out meat from animals that were given antibiotics for growth promotion for the last two years, and scientists from UCSF are urging other hospitals to follow suit. Click here to Continue >>

3 elements every C. diff management approach should include
Clostridium difficile infection is a significant concern for healthcare institutions, and it may be difficult to identify the best elements for a management and treatment program, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. Click here to Continue >>

Ebola preparedness still lags, despite apparent confidence boost among US hospitals
Nearly all (92 percent) infection control leaders believe their hospital is better prepared now than a year ago to handle highly infectious diseases like Ebola, according to results from an Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology survey. Click here to Continue >>

Launderable mattress covers reduce C. diff infections in study: 5 things to know
Two long-term acute care hospitals evaluated how using launderable mattresses and bed deck covers affected the incidence of hospital-onset Clostridium difficile infection in a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. Click here to Continue >> 

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 

How 2 Hospitals Used Pulsed Xenon UV Disinfection to Slash HAI Rates
As the share of hospitals' reimbursements tied to infection control and quality increases, hospital leaders need to be smarter than ever about their investments in disinfection tools and products. Click here to Continue >>

Patient Safety Toolkit

CMO, CNO and Chief Quality Officer Moves