• News
  
  • NRI Partners With F&A! – Fields & Associates, Inc (F&A) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Inc. (NRI). Since 1996, F&A has used its unique cadre of former CMS and TJC surveyors to provide expert consultation for standards compliance and survey success to psychiatric hospitals in more than 26 states.  NRI is the premiere organization for behavioral healthcare performance measurement and quality improvement services. Our partnership will provide greater number of hospitals with a fuller range of support for survey readiness and performance improvement.
    

• Article of the Month
  
  • Protecting Patients from Self-Harm: Reducing the risks of suicide in a behavioral health care unit or facility requires careful planning and diligence [®] EC News, July 2015, Vol 18, #7, Pg 1 J[Recommended for: EOC, LDR, SFT] – It is estimated that approximately 1500 suicides will occur in inpatient settings this year and such events will continue to be among the most frequently reported sentinel events. This article advocates an approach utilizing a patient-centric view and rigorous environmental safety risk assessment to proactively prevent inpatient suicide.  It also includes several excellent references and useful lists of hazards that should probably be on your checklist for safety rounds.
    
  • Question: What checklist do you use to identify suicide risks in your organization?
  • Click here for our REVIEW(Mbr/Guest); the FULL TJC ARTICLE(Mbr); to share a COMMENT(Mbr/Guest).

**RECOMMENDED READING:

1. PR: JAMA Viewpoint on High Reliability Strategies (PDF/QV) [REF:LDR, MD]
2. PR: NPSF Guidelines on Root Cause Analysis (PDF/QV) [REF: AOM, LDR, PI, ]
   
3. EC: Protecting Patients from Self-Harm (PDF/QV) [REF: EOC, SFT]
4. EC: Test Your Standards IQ (PDF/QV) [REF: EOC, SFT]

**USEFUL UPDATES, LINKS & DOWNLOADS:

• JAMA: Viewpoint on High Reliability Strategies
• NPSF: RCA2: Improving Root Cause Analyses and Actions to Prevent Harm
  
• FGI: Design Guide for the Built Environment of Behavioral Health Facilities (7.0) 
• Latest TJC Blogs: Physician Leader Monthly – Leadership Blog *New*
  

**SupporTips

• S-Tip/VC_RTN_How to access the full text of our newsletter summaries: 3-minute video clip explains 3 ways to access full text of the article summaries provided in our newsletter including the new 1-click access feature.