ASC Accreditation, Licensure & Medicare Certification

The Office of Inspector General has released a report in which it outlines shortcomings and failures by Medicare to respond adequately to alleged serious adverse events.

The following article is written by Kim LaFreniere, PhD, associate research fellow at Clorox Professional Products Co.   Infection preventionists and environmental services professionals are stationed on the frontlines of the infection prevention battleground and they understand that environmental surface…

Here are the 10 most-read reports from Becker's Operating Room Clinical Quality & Infection Control in October. Note: Clicking a story link will open the report in a new tab.

Valerie Maxam-Moore, RN, MN, Vice President, ASC Operations & Quality at Laser Spine Institute, discusses 10 critical components of strong infection prevention programs at spine centers.

The Joint Commission provides a webpage dedicated to frequently asked questions concerning its National Patient Safety Goal on hand hygiene (Goal #7).

The CDC provides a free, downloadable poster and flyer for healthcare settings that convey the message of "cover your cough."

Sandy Berreth, administrator of Brainerd Lakes Surgery Center, in Baxter, Minn., and an AAAHC surveyor, provided Becker's Operating Room Clinical Quality & Infection Control with a collection of tools addressing preoperative and postoperative documentation for use in ambulatory surgery centers.

CMS announced last week that it will repeal its requirement that surgery centers notify patients of certain information prior to surgery, according to an ASCA release.

Physicians, non-physician practitioners and independent diagnostic testing facilities that provide the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging services must be accredited by Jan. 1, 2012 to bill Medicare for these services, according to a CMS report.

Marsha Wallander, RN, is assistant director, accreditation services, for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.   Q: We are in the process of changing the type of hand sanitizers at our endoscopy locations. We are going to touchless dispensers.…