The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert in July of 2008, warning that disruptive and intimidating behaviors can have an adverse effect on patient safety and quality outcomes of care. All healthcare professionals must be aware of the potential dangers of these types of behaviors and their negative impact on not only patient care but also their negative impact on staff working relationships and collaboration.

HealthStream is proactively taking steps to help hospitals prepare for the new Joint Commission Leadership Standard (LD.03.01.01) that addresses disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in the healthcare setting :

1) HealthStream has developed survey questions that focus on disruptive and inappropriate behavior for both our Employee and Physician Insights surveys. These questions will provide hospitals the opportunity to identify units/departments where disruptive and inappropriate behavior is perceived to be an issue. It will also provide your organization with a performance baseline, trending in order to measure the effectiveness of policy implementation, and documentation that you are implementing a process for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in support of meeting the new Joint Commission standards.

2) HealthStream is developing a course on disruptive and inappropriate behaviors titled Disruptive Behaviors and Their Negative Impact on Patient Safety to help educate and train your staff. This continuing medical education activity will discuss and define these particular behaviors and address situations where these types of events are most likely to occur. An examination of the causes of this behavior will be reviewed allowing participants to gain a clear understanding of the root of disruptive behavior and its consequences. Strategies for eliminating disruptive and intimidating behaviors will be discussed in support of meeting the new Joint Commission standards.

3) HealthStream is delivering critical information on the new standard from nationally-recognized experts through its Knowledge Network Webinar series. See the detailed description in the next section of this newsletter (Knowledge Network Webinar) for further information.


If you would like more information concerning how HealthStream can support your efforts, please contact us at info@healthstream.com.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 3:00 EST

Presented by:
Alan H. Rosenstein M.D., M.B.A.
Vice President & Medical Director
VHA West Coast


The Joint Commission has a new Leadership standard (LD.03.01.01) that addresses disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in the healthcare setting. This accredited Webinar will discuss the cause, frequency, and impact of such behaviors and provide a series of tools and strategies designed to either prevent their occurrence or minimize their impact.

For complete webinar details, accreditation information, and registration information, click on the link below.

Full Webinar Information

Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:00 EST

Presented by:
Michelle O'Daniel, M.H.A., M.S.G.
Director of Member Services
VHA West Coast


This insightful Webinar will help you understand the differences between the generations and how to better communicate with colleagues from other generations.

For complete webinar details and registration information, click on the link below.

Full Webinar Information

HealthStream Research has built the largest physician database in the nation, with more than 660 hospitals in our database. In search of recent trends, this Discovery Paper will look specifically at the most recent full year of physician data, collected from 29,077 physicians in 2007, with a comparison to the overall 3-year rolling database. Further, this Discovery Paper will explore the top 5 drivers for several specific physician specialty categories.

Full Article

To read the information in this month's HCAHPS Spotlight, including important updates, preview reports and upcoming data submission deadlines, click on the link below.

Click Here for HCAHPS Update

Janie Mitchell and OhioHealth used HealthStream's DigitalMed Clinical Practice Series to orient new nurses, gain certifications for specific acute treatments, open a new hospital with a completely new acute care concept, and to help achieve Magnet certification.

Read the entire Success Story

“What is the difference between a Leverage Analysis and a Priority Analysis?”

Click here for the answer

HealthStream CEO Bobby Frist has provided his 400 employees a "blueprint" for building the company into "a world-class organization."

HealthStream, Inc. provides online learning and research technology and services for healthcare-industry subscribers. Writing in the company's recently published "HealthStream Constitution" booklet, Frist said the document is intended to ensure all HealthStream employees consistently understand HealthStream's vision, mission, tagline or slogan, values and business principles. He said that achieving world-class standing requires that all HealthStream employees "are unified in our purpose and clear on our intentions."

Click here to read the full article