The Joint Commission Resources released the January 2015 issue of "The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety."
Here are five things to know about the journal:
1. This issue includes two articles and an editorial about hand hygiene compliance designed to reduce healthcare-associated infections in hospitals.
2. One of the articles details The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare's first patient safety project. There were Lean, Six Sigma and change management methods used.
3. The center's Targeted Solutions Tool for hand hygiene has been used in 289 hospitals to initiate 1,495 projects on improving hand hygiene compliance. The average compliance improved from 57.9 percent to 83.5 percent.
4. The editorial is written by Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore supporting Lean, Six Sigma and change management methods in healthcare. He emphasizes leaders who champion quality improvement.
5. The issue also addresses reducing blood culture contamination and inviting families to participate in care.