COVID-19 has profoundly changed the point of care, challenging healthcare systems, practices, and providers to think differently about the healthcare experience and the delivery of care.
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the point of care, challenging healthcare systems, practices, and providers to think differently about the healthcare experience and the delivery of care.
As the healthcare landscape has evolved, convenience and customer service have become a top priority for healthcare providers. Quality of care is often measured using a combination of patient outcomes and patient satisfaction according to API Healthcare.
The CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) states that before an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) can share in any savings generated, it must demonstrate that it met the quality performance standard for that year. One of the quality measures within those performance standards is ACO-3 CAHPS: Patients’ Rating of Provider.
Many factors go into a patient’s rating of a provider, but most certainly the patient needs to have a positive experience. This includes not only their interaction with the physician and staff but their experience with the devices and equipment used during the exam.
If a patient has an uncomfortable experience with a piece of equipment, it may reflect poorly on their provider rating. Providers should ensure their equipment has no safety hazards, is easy to maneuver and makes the patient feel comfortable.
Healthcare facilities nationwide are charged with caring for people of all walks of life, including the approximately 56.7 million Americans living with disabilities. Healthy People 2020, a national initiative to set health priorities for 2010-2020, indicates that people with disabilities are more likely to experience delays and difficulties accessing healthcare. One way to ease this burden is to ensure our facilities are properly equipped to provide first-class care for disabled persons.
Medical office design has steadily been changing and evolving. For the longest time medical or clinical buildings have been behind the curve when it comes to more modern building design ideas. They often are still quite traditional in design when comparing the last few decades. Thankfully as greater attention is paid to creating greener buildings and designing spaces designed for people, these buildings are slowly but surely improving.
On January 9, 2017, the United States Access Board issued accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment (MDE), addressing “equipment that requires transfer from wheelchairs and other mobility aids and includes requirements for transfer surfaces, support rails, armrests, compatibility with lift devices and other features.” These standards can have far-reaching impact on hospitals, non-acute care clinics, and any size practice. As part of our mission to the healthcare community, we at CME wanted to offer an understanding of these standards and next steps in approaching them.
In a Richmond, VA. hospital, tetraplegics in the ICU who are unable to move by themselves are communicating and staying connected to the outside world, by controlling an overhead laptop’s cursor using their eye instead of a mouse.
Elsewhere, a new mother is opening up a web portal on a tablet to watch her newborn via live video feed from the NICU. And in San Francisco, pediatric patients are finding their hospitalizations a little less scary and confusing, thanks to tablets loaded with education and entertainment apps that they can easily access from their beds.
As indicated in a healthcare design article, when planning a new medical facility, it's important that equipment planning is considered at an early stage. This is necessary so that the planner can work together with the architect, interior designer and space planner to ensure that the right equipment is specified and adequate space is provided for the equipment, the medical staff who will operate the equipment and the patients who will be at the center of it all.
Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around for more than 25 years, only a small number of medical facilities are in full ADA compliance.
Here are three reasons why you should keep ADA Compliance in mind when purchasing medical equipment:
