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Currents To Medical Center Employees: Recently George Rivas of Safety Management Services spent several days reviewing our seven Environment of Care (EOC) plans and conducting building tours in preparation for the upcoming JCAHO survey scheduled for Nov. 17 through 21. The EOC plans address safety, security, hazardous materials, emergency management, fire and life safety, medical equipment management and utility systems. In general Mr. Rivas found our plans and facilities to be in good order, but he offered helpful comments and guidance. The EOC component of the JCAHO survey is more rigorous than in the past. All of the JCAHO survey team members are well versed in the EOC standards and will be assessing EOC-related issues in the course of their survey work focusing on other topics.  Two areas of heavy scrutiny include patient safety and infection control.  Survey team members will look closely at any ongoing construction activity to determine if there are any problems related to air quality, noise, vibration, dust or any shuch thing that could negatively impact the care of patients. It will be important that facilities maintenance and infection control staff demonstrate that pre-construction assessments have been conducted to address any potential problems. Also, it will be important that all concerned managers and staff be familiar with any “interim life safety” measures put into place to compensate for possible problems caused by construction work, such as an alternate fire evacuation route if the usual route is not accessible. Mr. Rivas will return Nov. 10 through 12. Any manager who would like for him to conduct a tour of their area during his visit to assess EOC-related matters should contact Al Nesmith at 792-6902. Thank you very much. Sincerely,  W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center   JCAHO survey nears, preparations continue Al Nesmith, Safety, Security and Volunteer Services director, introduced George Rivas, JCAHO consultant, to managers at the Oct. 7 communications meeting. Rivas distributed a handout to meeting attendees detailing some of the most frequently cited observations made during JCAHO surveys.  Rivas explained that JCAHO will conduct the environment of care interview first upon arrival for the Medical Center’s survey in November, and then will move on to a building inspection. This is a departure from former survey protocol. Rivas stressed the importance of sharing pertinent information with hospital staff and reminded managers to not only look at the survey from a clinical and safety perspective, but also from a facilities standpoint. For more information or to contact Rivas, contact Nesmith at 792-6902 or 792-3135. Prohibited Abbreviations Brenda Bailey, Health Information Services (Medical Records), distributed a booklet titled “The ABC Murders,” consistent with recent JCAHO “movie” presentations, to remind managers about prohibited abbreviations. Maureen Sheakley, Pharm.D., then explained why certain terms, etc. were unacceptable. According to JCAHO standards, abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, terminology and definitions must be standardized hospital-wide. In addition, JCAHO safety standards mandate that each facility must establish a reasonably comprehensive list of prohibited abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols. Long term, ambiguous forms of notation should be eliminated from all health care documentation. See Medical Center Policy C-21 for more information on prohibited terms. In addition, Bailey reiterated that these rules apply to written orders, as well as all other types of medical documentation. No abbreviations of any kind should be used during the completion of a consent form. To obtain a list of prohibited abbreviations, etc., look for them on the hospital Intranet. Policy and Human Resources Updates Rosemary Ellis, Quality director, said changes have been made to the Medical Center's Restraint and Seclusion policy, and those changes reflect suggestions made by the Institute of Psychiatry and the ER. For more information, contact Ellis at 792-0855. Helena Bastian, Medical Center Human Resources director, mentioned changes in human resource policy concerning market analysis as it relates to the budget planning process. It can be found on the Intranet, or contact Bastian at 792-5098 for more information. Bastian reminded managers that employees must enter holiday leave into Kronos, PTO year-end cutoff is the week of Dec. 31, and that all ARLs must be completed once a position has been filled.     Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.