Recently added articles from Healthcare Purchasing News:
Be accountable.(FAST FOREWARD)
Nov 01, 2009; Barlow, Rick Dana ... The venerable motto of the Boy Scouts of America is "be prepared." It's a mantra that should be--and typically is--embraced by healthcare professionals, particularly supply chain management. But another practical maxim should be wielded--and very well may be forced upon the ...
Fast stats.(NEWSWIRE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... 1847 is the year Ignaz Semmelweis insisted that students and physicians clean their hands with a chlorine solution between each patient in the clinic. This intervention represents the first evidence indicating that cleansing hands with an antiseptic agent between patient contacts may ...
FDA: Institute of Medicine to study premarket clearance process for medical devices.(NEWSWIRE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the premarket notification program used to review and clear certain medical devices marketed in the United States. The IOM study will examine the premarket notification ...
AHRMM membership selects 2010 Board of Directors.(NEWSWIRE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) has announced the winners of its 2010 Board of Directors elections. Newly elected officials include: President-Elect William Stitt, CMRP, FAHRMM; Region 2 Representative John Brede, CMRP; Region 7 Representative Edward ...
New tools help emergency planners select alternate care facilities during disasters.(NEWSWIRE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... Two interactive computer tools released by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will help emergency planners and responders select and run alternate care facilities during disaster situations. In such instances, hospitals experiencing a surge in seriously ill patients requiring ...
Performance improvement programs fighting a loss cause: Lean, Six Sigma supplanting CQI, TQM in efficiency, quality arsenal.(NEWS)
Nov 01, 2009; Barlow, Rick Dana ... When budgets hit the rocks, regardless of economic climate, performance improvement programs tend to roll. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, continuous quality improvement (CQI) and total quality management (TQM) ruled the acronym list and dominated discussions about organizational ...
The ups and downs of lean, Six Sigma.(NEWS)
Nov 01, 2009; ... Regardless of you leading your customers and organization through a long-standing rough spot or flopping with face-plant financially and operationally you can learn a great deal from Lean and Six Sigma project success stories and failures. More than a dozen experts shared their ...
Old blood raises death risk in trauma patients receiving transfusions.(Outpatient Connection)
Nov 01, 2009; ... A victim of severe trauma who gets as little as a single unit of blood that's been stored for more than a month is twice as likely to die as an equally injured patient who gets transfused with fresher blood, a new study finds. Red blood cells stored longer than 28 days significantly ...
New rules protect patients' genetic information.(Outpatient Connection)
Nov 01, 2009; ... Individuals' genetic information will have greater protections through new regulations issued by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury. The interim final rule will help ensure that genetic information is not used adversely in determining ...
OR salaries inch higher, along with responsibilities.(OPERATING ROOM)
Nov 01, 2009; Williamson, Julie E. ... Although continued economic woes have as many as half of all U.S. hospitals operating in the red, some could say that, perhaps surprisingly, the financial and professional outlook is rather rosy for those in OR management positions. The 2009 Healthcare Purchasing News OR ...
Minimal time guidelines for patient room cleaning and disinfecting.(Infection Control Update)
Nov 01, 2009; ... The American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services (ASHES) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) at its annual meeting reaffirmed previously published practice guidance for the minimal time for proper cleaning and surface disinfection of patient rooms. The reaffirmation is due ...
Bathroom showers may deliver face full of pathogens.(Infection Control Update)
Nov 01, 2009; ... While daily bathroom showers provide a good cleansing for millions of Americans, they also can deliver a face full of potentially pathogenic bacteria, according to a surprising new University of Colorado at Boulder study. The researchers used high-tech instruments and lab methods to ...
Washing away the flu blues.(INFECTION CONNECTION)
Nov 01, 2009; Cantrell, Susan ... Picture this: you're walking down stairs, sliding your hand along the rail where a child had walked before you, who also slid his hand along the rail, just after wiping his hand across his runny nose. You lift your hand from the rail and scratch your own nose. Someone sneezes, wipes their ...
A message from the president.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; Ray, Andy ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's widely believed that Plato, Greek author and philosopher, coined the adage, "necessity is the mother of invention." Certainly, some 2,500 years later, few would argue the point--especially within the current healthcare system that is challenged to ...
Changing the culture in the SPD.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... For the past 18 years, she has seen and done it all in the SPD. Today, Michele DeMeo--SPD manager at Memorial Hospital in York, PA--is more convinced than ever that the key to effective instrumentation and equipment processing resides within an institutional culture that fosters continual ...
Mom sews best.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Her friends and family know that Nancy Berens loves to sew. But all her experience didn't fully prepare Getinge's Eastern Region Branch Service Manager for the call she received from her daughter asking her mother to sew an American flag. ...
Think of it as green steam.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... Today, "going green" can save a lot of "green"--especially when it comes to conserving water during steam sterilization. With more and more states looking to mandate that business and industry reduce groundwater usage, Getinge's Water Saver Package for Getinge Steam Sterilizers can go a ...
When it's safe to flash.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... If you perform an on-line search of the words, "flash," "sterilization" and "safety," then you'll find more than 167,000 documents to click through. Such is the nature of the discussion that invariably brings into question the efficacy of a flash sterilization regimen. Of ...
Improving the outcomes of manual cleaning.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; ... Despite the technical and cleaning process improvements brought about by mechanical washer-disinfector systems in the SPD, many instrument manufacturers continue to create instructions that include manual cleaning. The biggest advantage of manual cleaning is instruments can be ...
What we value most.(SAFE to HANDLE)
Nov 01, 2009; Hansson, John ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the months ahead, you'll be seeing and hearing much more about Getinge's interlocking sphere symbolizing our company's integrated solutions for infection control and contamination prevention. It's just one element of Getinge Infection Control's brand ...
