patient safety & quality
patient safety & quality
By Kristina Pirollo-Ketchum, BA, AA, CHL, CRCST
Audits and Surveys as Mechanisms to Enhance Patient Safety
Healthcare audits, as referred to, are systematic reviews with a look at many of health practice’ s activities, such as keeping up protocol, level of patient care, and operational efficiency.
Chizimu, et al.( 2024) state that they are important in determining the differences between where a problem is and the areas that they can improve.”
Healthcare management, including hospitals, relies heavily on audits and surveys because these fundamental measurement tools ensure patient safety together with high-quality care standards and regulatory approval. This article discusses how audits and surveys fit into healthcare, what the consequences of non-compliance are for patient safety, and how readiness for these evaluations can help ensure the safety of patients and healthcare staff.
Healthcare audits, as referred to, are systematic reviews with a look at many of health practice’ s activities, such as keeping up protocol, level of patient care, and operational efficiency. Chizimu, et al.( 2024) state that they are important in determining the differences between where a problem is and the areas that they can improve. Medical audits help identify errors and their basis cause so targeted interventions to improve patient care and operational processes can occur. Surveys of staff and patients are very useful and very visual to the healthcare environment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services( CMS) performed an audit that found significant shortcomings within an infection control system( Campbell, 2023). Sterilization of hospital surgical instruments was insufficient to protect patients from unnecessary immediate medical consequences. When CMS threatened to yank away their Medicare funding if they didn’ t do timely remediation, the hospital lost their privileges. Audits are a critical mechanism in that they prevent failures that should protect the welfare of the patient.
To keep standards of safety high, regulatory healthcare requirements need to be followed. If noncompliance occurs, it can result in very severe penalties, legal consequences, and poor patient care( Kiani, 2022). If healthcare organizations don’ t do as they’ re supposed to and leave patients open to unsafe practices, they risk letting them get injured by medical errors or an adverse event. Short-term evaluation and long-term consequences that degrade institutional reputation and patient trust relationships caused by noncompliance events. Investigators from HSS located a New Jersey nursing home during 2020 with rule violations that included staff levels falling below standard and insufficient infection prevention practices. This also resulted in a large COVID outbreak causing severe COVID and resident deaths( GAO, 202). It meant fines, lawsuits, and more intense scrutiny from state regulators. The audit failure measures how regulatory enforcement activities relate and how following guidelines actually protects patients in healthcare settings.
Preparation for a survey is known as survey readiness and entails the readiness of healthcare facilities
Surveys and audits are indispensable tools within the healthcare sector, aimed at protecting patients, guaranteeing the quality of care at the same time, and meeting the requirements of regulatory standards.”
to satisfy compliance standards uniformly during the whole year. It is composed of staff training, organizational strategy development, and building a culture of patient safety( Deryabina, et al., 2021). Hospitals that prepare themselves for a state of readiness for audits and surveys respond quickly to evaluators’ queries and prove that they are practicing best practices. Thus, regular audits can identify potential problems before they become serious issues.
Surveys and audits are indispensable tools within the healthcare sector, aimed at protecting patients, guaranteeing the quality of care at the same time, and meeting the requirements of regulatory standards. These evaluations are important because not only do they determine what to enhance and what needs improvement, but they also help ensure that those dire consequences of noncompliance do not happen. Enabling safety for patients and staff by creating a culture of readiness for audits and surveys strengthens the relationship with the community and improves health outcomes.
Kristina Pirollo-Ketchum, BA, AA, CHL, CRCST, is an independent consultant and principal of Ketchum Konsulting, LLC.
References:
Campbell JL.( 2023). Systemic Failures in Health Care Oversight. Ga. L. Rev., 58, 737. https:// digitalcommons. law. uga. edu / cgi / viewcontent. cgi? article = 1513 & context = glr
Chizimu JY, Mudenda S, et al.( 2024). Antimicrobial stewardship situation analysis in selected hospitals in Zambia: findings and implications from a national survey. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https:// doi. org / 10.3389 / fpubh. 2024.1367703
Deryabina A, Lyman M, et al.( 2021). Core components of infection prevention and control programs at the facility level in Georgia: key challenges and opportunities. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 10( 1). https:// doi. org / 10.1186 / s13756-020- 00879-3
Government Accountability Office( GAO).( May 20, 2020). Infection Control Deficiencies Were Widespread and Persistent in Nursing Homes Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic. Gao. gov. https:// www. gao. gov / products / gao-20-576r
Kiani C.( 2022). Planning Patient Safety: Philosophical, Political, and Economic Changes Required for Preventable Death Abolition. CMC Senior Theses. https:// scholarship. claremont. edu / cmc _ theses / 3069 /
24 • www. healthcarehygienemagazine. com • mar-apr 2025