Patient safety is a top priority for health care organizations. A better patient safety environment is associated with a lower probability of significant complications and dramatically reduces medical errors and adverse events, improves patient outcomes and increases efficiency and effectiveness. A patient safety culture within hospitals contribute to a higher standard of care, encourages collaboration and open communications, more coordinated care and improved overall performance.

The economic impact findings, which tell the story of Howard’s 157-year commitment to strategic investment and service to its community, show that Howard’s economic impact in the District alone totaled $1.154 billion in 2019. That year, the University’s student body population, comprised of nearly 13,500 students, spent over $25 million on retail consumer services, entertainment, dining, and other convenience goods. The University made payments totaling more than $500 million to more than 2,300 vendors in fiscal year 2024, including more than $235 million paid to local vendors. In addition, the University and Ospedale Universitario Howard current workforce was comprised of nearly 5,000 employees, with a payroll of $395 million.

Digitization and technology dependency in organizations have necessitated the increased need for cybersecurity and compliance in unprecedented ways. Cybersecurity measures are designed to protect an organization from cyber threats, and compliance ensures that an organization adheres to industry regulations and standards. Over the years, cybersecurity and compliance have become intertwined, with their intersection causing significant confusion. Read more to explore the intersection of cybersecurity and compliance and learn all you need to know about the two.

Highlights: A generalized increase in volumes across all five focus utilization metrics from September to October 2024 compared to 2020 pre-COVID baselines. Ambulatory surgery volumes present the biggest increase going from -6% below baselines in September to 10% above baseline in October. Observation admission volumes remain above baseline from September to October, going from 2% to 8%. Acute care admissions increased from -17% below baseline in September to -12% in October, and psychiatric admissions also increased going from -25 % below baselines in September to -21% in October. Lastly, emergency department visits saw the smallest increase in volumes going from -21% below baseline in September to -19% in October (see Fig. 1 below).

Although there is an uptick of psychiatric admissions volumes this month the metric continues to remain below the median as shown in Fig. 2 below. This month specialty admissions are back up slightly above the median after the data shift noticed over the last six months as depicted in Fig. 3 below.