"The US healthcare reform has influenced a shift in focus: instead of only focusing on costs, the industry is now making a move to focus more on quality. As a result, this shift towards quality has led hospitals to realize the important role that patient safety will play. (23) CMS reimbursements will now be based on a hospital’s quality and performance. (22) It is estimated that due to low HCAHP scores, CMS will hold back approximately 1% of hospital payments. (26) Even though hospitals are worried about the cost cuts they will experience, more than 91% of healthcare organizations are saying that patient safety is a major concern and advocate that all hospitals should have it as part of their future strategic plan. (23) In the past, safety has often been referred to as a ‘later’ issue. Now, safety is an issue that hospitals no longer have the option of postponing. (24) The real question is how hospitals are going to successfully improve patient safety in a cost effective manner."

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"These days, more hospitals, schools and senior residences are automating their QA (Quality Assurance) programs within housekeeping departments, with hopes for improvements in accuracy, speed and quality of information. Up until recently, most facilities used a paper-based approach - someone could tour with a checklist, noting deficiencies, problems, etc. Sometimes that list would simply get reviewed and filed, while in other instances, the data would be entered into a QA database program of some sort."

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"Careful tracking of both employee performance and overall cleanliness levels in health-care patient areas can help environmental services managers troubleshoot problem areas. But the management inspection and assessment process is a work-intensive, time-consuming task, accompanied by reams of paperwork and extensive data-entry work. Also, important details can get lost in the translation from printed data to computer database."

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"You walk into the construction zone adjacent to your ICU. You've had "discussions" with contractors in the past concerning the need for a higher level of care and attention in your hospital.  This just isn't the same as a commercial project.  You have covered issues such as barrier protection, locked entrances and the public, air pathways, and fire codes.  They have heard it before and while they nod in agreement, getting them to understand the specifics and then comply is the real challenge.  You are worried about OSHA, JCAHO, Infection Control, and the wandering public. In the construction zone, you see a variety of issues, some are minor and some are serious violations that need to be addressed immediately.  Reaching into your shirt pocket you pull out a tiny handheld computer the size of your wallet.  You touch the screen to pull up the construction zone's profile: contractor's names, phone numbers, history of infractions and warnings, and a list of corrections previously requested due today. You check the broken ceiling tile that was supposed to be repaired. It’s okay; and you mark the item complete."

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"Regulated medical waste (RMW) poses direct risks to those who produce, handle, and dispose of it.  Not only is RMW dangerous, it is up to 20 times more expensive to dispose of than regular waste.  Over the last 14 months, BFI Medical Waste Systems has performed 204 waste audits using the Walsh Waste Auditor system.  The Walsh system allows the qualitative and quantitative assessment and comparison of a hospital’s waste stream.  These audits are the first comprehensive attempt to evaluate on a national level what hospitals are actually doing with their waste.  The findings indicate that in some cases, up to 65% of the biomedical waste produced is actually regular trash, such as paper, styrofoam cups, and packaging."

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"Waste Management no longer means just trash hauling. There is a new breed of professionals in healthcare helping hospitals manage their waste. Names for these companies include Environmental Service Providers, Red Bag Consultants, and Waste Management Professionals. The medical waste haulers' old pitch of, "we will give you a better price per pound on your medical waste" is falling on deaf ears as many hospitals recognize the need for lower cost, not just lower price. Department heads are demanding a raft of value-added services to help them control costs and maintain compliance."

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"Changing attitudes to the way hospital waste is disposed of is a huge task. Tracking and reporting incidences of incorrect waste disposal will not only set this process in motion, but also lower the rate of such incidences and reduce costs. Healthcare facilities routinely produce two to ten times more medical waste than is necessary. Studies have shown that improper material segregation is the leading contributor to excessive volumes, environmental compliance problems and increased safety risk. Based upon these studies - carried out in over 300 North American hospitals - improved tracking and reporting have emerged as the most important factors in solving these problems."

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"When the engineers at Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Fla., set out to make sure their equipment was Y2K compliant, they faced a daunting task.  There were hundreds of equipment types, which translated into thousands of individual pieces at the 680-bed hospital.  “Just getting information on complaint equipment and communicating with manufacturers it was so laborious trying to call people and write letters,” says Dennis Grady, Memorial’s administrative director of facilities management and president-elect of the of the American Society for Healthcare engineering. Then, about six months ago, his team began using the Internet to do this work.  The staff found that most manufacturers had all the necessary Y2K information posted on their Web sites.  They could find out which equipment was compliant, how to upgrade, and when to discard." 

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