In surgical facilities, the reliability of medical equipment is crucial for ensuring patient safety and maintaining the quality of care. Routine biomedical inspections are not just a regulatory requirement but...
Inefficiencies in compliance processes can lead to significant challenges for facilities. Universal Healthcare Consulting (UHC) understands these pain points and offers solutions that simplify and...
Ensuring that your surgical facility is fully compliant with regulatory standards is essential to providing safe, effective care. Following the guidelines set by various authoritative organizations not only...
In the high-stakes environment of a surgical facility, precision isn’t just a necessity—it’s a way of life. Every action, from pre-op procedures to post-op protocols, must align seamlessly to ensure patient safety and optimal outcomes...
In a continued effort to bring the most efficient and comprehensive surgical facility accreditation platform to the industry, Universal Healthcare Consulting has created an automated training module for their clients, to ensure each staff member is fully compliant with their annual credentialing needs. Each training module is fully...
An occurrence, simply defined is any event that happens in your day that was unexpected and not planned for. We discussed in the first article that an occurrence can be anything from a simple canceled surgery to a hospital transfer. The occurrence reporting system works in tandem with your Quality Assurance Performance...
Many occurrences do not require an investigation or further action to be taken. Many occurrences are simply tracked and trended for significance, which provides an indication as to the need for further investigation. In the event of a reported infection, if there is only one patient post-op infection, this should not cause a great deal of concern. The occurrence should be tracked and trended to see if there are other reported...
As part of your risk management program, you are required to have an event tracking system. Universal Healthcare Consulting has created an online and automated Occurrence Reporting System on the UHCloud® that allows for the tracking and trending of events. In this series of articles, we will discuss the main events that every outpatient surgery center should track and trend and how to identify a problem. Occurrences...
Why do you, the surgeon, need to understand the rules and regulations that pertain to your outpatient surgery facility? You know how to do surgery. You hired staff that has OR experience, and you even hired a consultant that provides constant oversight of your facility’s level of compliance and communicates all regulatory...
Your surgical staff is a team with the common goal of helping the patient in the safest and most efficient manner possible. The goal is to first, do no harm, and second, help resolve the patient’s issue. To achieve these goals your staff needs to receive the proper training so they fully and completely understand their roles and the roles of their...
Hiring the right people, that will be entrusted to carry out the day to day operations of your surgical facility, is the most critical decision you may make. Universal Healthcare Consulting has worked with hundreds of facilities starting from the initial planning phase and what we have found is that those facilities that have a “point person” are much more efficient in all phases of the planning, pre-opening, and opening phases. Employee...
When opening a new facility it is important to be well-capitalized. You don’t want to scrimp on your equipment and supplies. Purchasing the correct equipment and supplies in the proper quantities can save you money in the short run and in the long run. You don’t want to shop price at the expense of quality. Purchasing refurbished equipment from a reputable dealer who will provide a warranty will save you money versus...
When we are hired by a new client it is our responsibility to guide and assist them in creating an efficient and compliant surgical facility that places patient safety at the forefront. What we have been successful in doing with our clients is not just ensuring they have the proper systems in place to meet compliance, but more importantly, educating the...
For doctors seeking to build their own office-based surgery center, it is strongly advisable to seek a consultant. Universal Healthcare Consulting’s compliance program has resulted in tremendous cost savings for many clients from the very early planning stages. Many clients engage us before identifying a suitable location. In these cases...
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led many organizations to get creative and demonstrate the ability to think on their feet. Accrediting healthcare facilities that hope to open soon is one such challenge that was overcome by a lot of hard work and forward thinking. On Friday, June 12th Universal Healthcare Consulting and AAAASF teams...
Vancomycin Hydrochloride for Injection, USP, 750 mg/vial by Hospira: Recall - Presence of Particulate Matter. ISSUE: Hospira is voluntarily recalling one lot of Vancomycin Hydrocloride for Injection, USP, 750 mg/vial (NDC 0409-6531-02) lot 632153A, to the hospotal/retailer level. The recall was due to a confirmed customer report for the...
Dear Florida Clients, We have received many responses regarding HIPAA Compliance. I wanted to take a few moments and email some of the concerns from those that have contacted us, as you may have similar questions. Why do you say we are hot HIPAA compliant? I have received training, have a policy manual and my EHR company said they performed the HIPAA assessment. In the past it was enought to have...
RE: HIPAA Compliance Dear Client, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Civil Regulation (OCR) which falls under HHS has begun a program to perform random inspections of medical offices. They anticipate that 1 out of every 300 offices will be randomly selected to assess the level of HIPAA compliance. UHC has performed exhaustive research into HHS's inspection process. We have spoken with many...
I.V. Flush Syringes by Nurse Assist: Recall - Potential Link to Burkholderia Cepacia Bloodstream Infections AUDIENCE: Risk Manager, Nursing ISSUE: Nurse Assist announced voluntary recall of all unexpired lots of I.V. Flush Syringes due to a potential link to Burkholderia cepacia bloodstream infections with the product. According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the effects of Burkholderia...
As you are already aware hurricane Matthew is bearing down on the east cotast of Florida. Currently we are in the "cone of concern" but as this is a very large storm system we will still most likely experience heavy winds and rain if not the actual hurricane. Please review your hurricane preparedness policies. It will be the medical directors decision when to begin cancelling patients. Be sure to secure all computers and paper files in...
0.25 percent bupivacaine hydrochloride injection, usp by hospira: recall - particulate matter. ISSUE: Hospira, Inc., a Pfizer company, is voluntarily recalling one lot of 0.25% Bupivacaine Hydrochloride Injection, USP (NDC 0409-1159-02 lot 59-064-DK, Expiry 1NOV2017) a the hospital/retail level due to the pesence of particulate matter within a...
UHC has been working behind the scenes to create a Risk Management and Compliance experience that provides you with greater oversight, greater efficiency and more transparency into your practice. Some of our latest improvements to the UHCloud® have been a more streamlined occurrence reporting system and a robust Task Management program that allows UHC to track crash cart drug expirations...
And How Can It Help Me? Risk Management helps reduce the uncertainty in your daily practice. An appropriate risk management program uses specific strategies and tools to manage and mitigate risk and exposure to unforeseen events. There are many risk reduction strategies that can be implemented, which will integrate seamlessly into your established practice protocol. A properly developed and implemented...
CEO Universal Healthcare Consulting, Inc. The day of any inspection survey is very stressful in and of itself. The days leading up to a survey, the hours of preparation, the unknown if everything is being completed and properly documented can be even more stressful than the actual survey. We have heard countless times from nurses...
Whether its state, federal or accrediting body surveys, when the surveyor walks in your door, the stress level rises and the nerves come to life. We like to think that we do things the "right" way all the time, but when under the scrutiny of a surveyor we all question ourselves. Surveyors can definitely be intimidating. The accrediting body surveyors are supposed to be there to evaluate and educate whereas the federal surveyors are there...
All my patients are treated safely! Maybe, but most likely not. Patient safety is always first and foremost for a wide variety of reasons. Obviously the Hippocratic oath states do no harm. And it is abundantly obvious that if a patient is harmed there will most likely be a lawsuit to follow. But let's not forget the elephant in the room and that is that a patient may have been harmed. The point is not to have a practice whereby you...
Addressing HIPAA has become a necessary evil in all medical facilities. The rules, in some ways, have become convoluted and confusing. Can I call a waiting patient's name when summoning them to the exam room? What about sign in sheets? Can I communicate with my patients via email and fax? Can I send patient records to colleagues via email or fax? Who do I need a Business Associate agreement with? Since I did...
Over the course of my career as a Healthcare Risk Manager Consultant I have been asked to review many requests for records by various agencies and individuals. Frequently, these requests are attributed to a patient who states they are unhappy with the results of the procedure and want their money back. Often times the events...
