In the News This Month
Greetings Everyone,
As we approach the end of the year, this is the time when The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other accrediting organizations review the regulatory standards and look for ways to improve upon patient safety and care. This month's articles highlight two different areas of focus.
On July 17, 2023, CMS released a memorandum highlighting the requirements for ligature risk and assessment in hospitals. When considering ligature risk in your organization, how thoroughly is your team addressing this in an ongoing and persistent manner? Anne Kelly's article, "Ligature Risk and Assessments as a Hospital Priority," addresses key CMS guidelines and best practices for how to manage Ligature Risk in healthcare settings.
Our second article, "Assessing your Dental Services for Compliance," is the first in a two-part series, focusing on regulatory compliance standards in Dental Services. Author, Denise Smith presents a comprehensive look at a multitude of areas in dental practices that can be a patient safety concern while providing key strategies for safe practice and regulatory compliance for each.
We hope you find these articles informative and helpful in assisting you with your ongoing regulatory readiness. Please feel free to reach out to us at info@courtemanche-assocs.com with any topics you would like to see featured or for any service needs you may have.
Ligature Risk and Assessments as a Hospital Priority
About the Authors
Patricia Cook, B.S., R.Ph, HACP, GRCP
Pat Cook is a Senior Consultant at Courtemanche & Associates. She has four decades of healthcare administrative and regulatory experience where she served in multiple leadership positions including Drug Distribution Supervisor, Assistant Director of Pharmacy and Director of Pharmaceutical Care. Her experience with regulatory compliance, licensure and accreditation spans over 30 years and involved survey coordination and survey readiness and response across hospital, long term care, ambulatory care, behavioral health, and home care practice settings. Prior to joining the C&A team, Pat’s most recent healthcare experience was serving as System Vice President of Accreditation and Licensure for RWJ Barnabas Health. where Additionally, she also holds the following certifications, Six Sigma Green Belt, Certified Healthcare Accreditation Professional (HACP), and is a Master Trainer in TeamSTEPPS.
Assessing Your Dental Services for Compliance
About the Authors
Denise Smith, RN, BS, MS, CLNC, HACP-CMS
Denise Smith is Head of Consulting & a Senior Consultant with Courtemanche & Associates. In this role she is responsible for assessing healthcare organizational readiness for licensing, certification, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. She has extensive knowledge in the requirements of The Joint Commission, DNV, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services including knowledge in their survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination. She also has knowledge and experience in AAAHC and other regulatory and accreditation organizations. She assists organizations with survey preparation, educational needs, post survey activities, patient safety strategies and quality improvement initiatives. Denise has more than 40 years of experience and expertise in Infection Prevention, Sterile Processing, Legal Nurse Consulting, Quality and Resource Management, Clinical Education, in acute inpatient and outpatient care settings.
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