Guest guest Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Effie, I stopped trying to reason with Infection Control and we launder hot pack covers after every patient use - every time, and have for several years. Of course, this causes the Velcro to deteriorate after just a few washings due to the high heat, over laundering....... So, I used my sewing/crafting/creative background and tried many a trick to come up with a different solution to secure them when the Velcro is no good - magnetic purse snaps! Staggered every couple inches, 3 per cover = adjustable covers = therapists happy, IC happy, TJC satisfied. Maybe I should patent it??? On to the next problem. Good luck. Ellen Ellen Director of Rehab Buena Vista Regional Medical Center 1525 West 5th Street Storm Lake, IA 50588 (phone) (fax) anderson.ellen@... ________________________________ From: PTManager on behalf of Effie_Elliott@... Sent: Fri 6/22/2012 1:15 PM To: PTManager Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@... <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Not to sound sarcastic. but maybe JCAHO needs to start and Evidenced Based Approach. Coming up with rules with no data is just contrary to conventional practice and common sense. It's one thing to suspect and investigate (or even a temporary rule) but this practice has been in effect since loooooong ago and has never been called into question. Next step is wearing protective suit to even touch a patient (yes I suspect someone is writing a rule on that one now). On a separate issue, I just purchased a pulse oximeter so I could have the option to check the O2 level with some fatigued patients on a home health eval/re-check. I was told by the Home Health Agency that I could not record this in the medical record without a physician order. Medicare considers this an " invasive procedure " even though I was using the finger clip method. We have an order for vitals and I thought this would be covered in that section. I realize this is not something that is needed often in a typical population but I was surprised with the classification. Has anyone else had this as an issue? Would I jeopardize payment by recording this? Steve Passmore PT, MS (soon to be DPT) Healthy Recruiting Tools spass@... Phone: Fax: " What We Did For You Yesterday Is History. What Can We Do For You Today " Recruiting Tools: Cold Calls ~ List Enhancement ~ Direct Mailers ~ Card Design ~ Recruiting Software From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of Effie_Elliott@... Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 1:16 PM To: PTManager Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@... <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 I have been told the same in regards to the pulse oximetry, but no company has been able to show me the regulation that limits is from taking a pulse ox as a vital sign. On Jun 22, 2012, at 11:33 PM, " Steve Passmore " wrote: > Not to sound sarcastic. but maybe JCAHO needs to start and Evidenced Based > Approach. Coming up with rules with no data is just contrary to > conventional practice and common sense. It's one thing to suspect and > investigate (or even a temporary rule) but this practice has been in effect > since loooooong ago and has never been called into question. Next step is > wearing protective suit to even touch a patient (yes I suspect someone is > writing a rule on that one now). > > On a separate issue, I just purchased a pulse oximeter so I could have the > option to check the O2 level with some fatigued patients on a home health > eval/re-check. I was told by the Home Health Agency that I could not record > this in the medical record without a physician order. Medicare considers > this an " invasive procedure " even though I was using the finger clip method. > We have an order for vitals and I thought this would be covered in that > section. I realize this is not something that is needed often in a typical > population but I was surprised with the classification. Has anyone else had > this as an issue? Would I jeopardize payment by recording this? > > Steve Passmore PT, MS (soon to be DPT) > > Healthy Recruiting Tools > > spass@... > > Phone: > > Fax: > > " What We Did For You Yesterday Is History. What Can We Do For You Today " > > Recruiting Tools: Cold Calls ~ List Enhancement ~ Direct Mailers ~ Card > Design ~ Recruiting Software > > From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf > Of Effie_Elliott@... > Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 1:16 PM > To: PTManager > Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers > > Kirk - > I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. > Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told > by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use > our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the > hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to > come in contact with the patient's skin! > We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a > looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected > from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. > The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers > laundered. > Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there > is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a > challenge to the hot pack covers! > Thanks, > Effie > > Effie Elliott, PT, DPT > Director, Rehabilitation Services > Bayhealth Medical Center > (or 7096) Office Number > Pager Number > Fax Number > effie_elliott@... <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> > > " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone > else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, > American author & publisher > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Joint Commission has never brought this issue up to us. We do launder our hot packs covers monthly with a commercial laundry. Our Infection control Manager is fine with this. We do use a clean towel over the hot packs so that the patient's skin never comes in contact with the covers. I guess it all depends on who comes to your facility which is not how it should be! From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of Effie_Elliott@... Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 11:16 AM To: PTManager Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@...<mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Joint Commission has never brought this issue up to us. We do launder our hot packs covers monthly with a commercial laundry. Our Infection control Manager is fine with this. We do use a clean towel over the hot packs so that the patient's skin never comes in contact with the covers. I guess it all depends on who comes to your facility which is not how it should be! From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of Effie_Elliott@... Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 11:16 AM To: PTManager Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@...<mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 We had our own internal mock survey as well. As long as the hot pack covers so not make contact with the patients' skin, you should be OK. Mike Marinucci, PT Outpatient Coordinator St. Francis Hospital - The Heart Center Roslyn, NY 11576 ________________________________ From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of Zarosinski, Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 1:35 PM To: PTManager Subject: RE: Re: Hot Pack Covers Joint Commission has never brought this issue up to us. We do launder our hot packs covers monthly with a commercial laundry. Our Infection control Manager is fine with this. We do use a clean towel over the hot packs so that the patient's skin never comes in contact with the covers. I guess it all depends on who comes to your facility which is not how it should be! From: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Effie_Elliott@... <mailto:Effie_Elliott%40Bayhealth.org> Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 11:16 AM To: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@... <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 After all this conversation, I brought this question to our infection Control coordinator yesterday. She also pointed out that so long as we follow our own policy as it is written ( and our Infection Control Committee approved it and they are DETAIL people!) we are fine. Our hospital policy states that the covers are washed 2 x a year by the hospital laundry, or as needed. Again since the covers do not usually come in contract with the patient's skin, we are fine. Obviously if they do contact the patient directly, then that would be an instance to have them laundered my frequently. So my other advice is to make sure your own policy states what you are actually doing. Marcy From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of Marinucci, Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 8:33 AM To: PTManager Subject: RE: Re: Hot Pack Covers We had our own internal mock survey as well. As long as the hot pack covers so not make contact with the patients' skin, you should be OK. Mike Marinucci, PT Outpatient Coordinator St. Francis Hospital - The Heart Center Roslyn, NY 11576 ________________________________ From: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of Zarosinski, Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 1:35 PM To: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: RE: Re: Hot Pack Covers Joint Commission has never brought this issue up to us. We do launder our hot packs covers monthly with a commercial laundry. Our Infection control Manager is fine with this. We do use a clean towel over the hot packs so that the patient's skin never comes in contact with the covers. I guess it all depends on who comes to your facility which is not how it should be! From: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Effie_Elliott@...<mailto:Effie_Elliott%40Bayhealth.org> <mailto:Effie_Elliott%40Bayhealth.org> Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 11:16 AM To: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: Hot Pack Covers Kirk - I just came across your post about hot pack covers in PT Manager. Ironically, we just had an internal mock JC tracer survey, and were told by a survey team member from Infection Prevention that we could not re-use our hot pack covers and that having 6 - 8 layers of toweling between the hot pack and the patient did not prevent " germs " from seeping through to come in contact with the patient's skin! We are hard put to come up with a solution. I have been a PT for a looooooooooooong time and have never known of a patient becoming infected from a hot pack treatment appropriately applied. The question also came up about how and when are the hot pack covers laundered. Let me know if you have come up with any creative solutions, or if there is anyone who has recently gone through a JC survey and experienced a challenge to the hot pack covers! Thanks, Effie Effie Elliott, PT, DPT Director, Rehabilitation Services Bayhealth Medical Center (or 7096) Office Number Pager Number Fax Number effie_elliott@...<mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> <mailto:effie_elliott%40bayhealth.org> " Next to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-class job under your direction. " Feather, American author & publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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