The staff and five million residents of long term care (LTC) facilities are among those most vulnerable to COVID-19. As long term care facilities prepare to reopen to visitors, raising awareness of hygiene behaviors and reinforcing hygiene routines can help everyone be safer. Importance of visitors for LTC residents Prolonged physical separation and isolation from […]
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Positive messages about handwashing are working. Data shows that 68% of us have changed the way we wash our hands because of COVID-19.1 Learn about the importance and history of handwashing by listening to Essity’s podcast episode: Power of Hands. Handwashing: A moment in history This story is always relevant, but it’s also steeped in history. […]
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Just what is telemedicine today – and what will it be post-COVID? For one thing, it is hardly new. In 1906, the first remote electrocardiograph reading was conducted over a telephone line, making the practice of diagnosis and treatment at a distance well over a century old.1 It now goes by a variety of names – telemedicine, […]
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Hand hygiene is, of course, a well-established healthcare essential, and one of the keys to keeping healthcare staff safe at work during COVID-19. With healthcare workers (HCWs) facing unprecedented time demands providing care, it may not, however, be realistic to expect them to maintain a sufficient clean-hands regimen without special assistance. Fortunately, there are a […]
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A recent report labeled waste as the “new norm” for nursing home operations. And we’re not just talking about trash. The waste of energy, materials and drugs – and the related waste of employee time – adds up to the most dangerous waste of all when it comes to the health of your facility: wasted […]
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It’s clear that infection control is a critical concern for healthcare facilities. What isn’t clear is why so few facilities take an adequate approach to what the Centers for Disease control has long promoted as the best means of preventing the spread of infection: hand hygiene. Research shows that 80% of infections are caused by […]
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The trend in value-based healthcare is…that it’s not just a trend. It is, by all signs, the future of providing, and getting paid, for healthcare. Forty-eight states have implemented value-based programs, and there are seven times as many value-based healthcare systems as there were just five years ago. So, the real question is not, “Shall […]
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It’s an all-too well-known fact, so familiar that the healthcare industry may be tempted to forget it: consumers are stressed-out about healthcare costs, and there’s no easy cure. But for their health, and also the well-being of the healthcare industry, professionals need to keep the issue top of mind, with an eye toward alleviating the […]
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There’s one big reason hospitals are rapidly moving to the forefront of environmental sustainability – those efforts can make this economically-challenged sector more financially sustainable. New efficiencies save energy, significantly cut costs This movement is not being led by environmentalists, but by hard-nosed (and creative) hospital CFOs and administrators. Their first target has been the […]
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Hospital curtains are supposed to safeguard a patient’s privacy; unfortunately, research shows they can also endanger patient health. Hidden in the folds of nearly nine out of ten hospital curtains you’ll find methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The curtains tested started out uncontaminated; a control group of curtains never hung, but which were stored in […]
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