The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) serves as a critical tool for hospitals to prepare for and respond to potential terrorist incidents, ensuring patient and staff safety. Hospitals can use this system for important updates on the threat levels, potential terrorist activities, and for staying informed about evolving threats. Hospitals should also integrate NTAS alerts into their emergency planning and response strategies.
This tool (Also known as the Zebra Book) was developed to be a comprehensive resource for clinical personnel by providing information on various aspects of biological, chemical, and radiological terrorism. It is intended to serve as an emergent guide book on what to do and where to seek information in the event of an attack.
What’s happening: On March 18, the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC) saw a social media post indicating concern for a coordinated, multi-city terrorist attack on low-security hospitals in mid-tier cities in the coming weeks, and released a bulletin on March 19 to spread awareness.
What else to know: Although the threat’s credibility cannot be verified at this time, the AHA and Health-ISAC recommend that hospitals review and evaluate the coordination and capabilities of physical security, cybersecurity, and emergency management plans, and spread internal awareness of this potential threat.
What’s happening: On July 1, the Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization (CHPSO) — a division of the Hospital Quality Institute — released its 2024 Annual Report, which shares analyses of patterns in diagnostic errors, recaps the year’s signal detection data, summarizes advancements in data quality among CHPSO’s growing membership, and more.
Hospitals are better equipped to respond effectively to potential threats when they have clearly defined procedures for reporting cases and accessing necessary resources.
What’s happening: CHA has created a data tool to help members replicate calculations used by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to identify so-called “high-cost” hospitals and assess how close they may be to the threshold.
What’s happening: At its June 9 meeting, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board discussed the office’s first baseline report, which highlights that total health care expenditures grew by 8.2% (from $378 billion to $409 billion) from 2022 to 2023.
This tool is designed to address these challenges by providing a curriculum that can be used to train hospital personnel on how to prepare for and respond to the psychological consequences of large-scale disasters. The training has three modules that are intended to be used either as standalone training or in combination depending on the facility and audience needs:
This self-assessment tool assists hospitals in evaluating their preparedness for bomb threats. It outlines key assessment areas, including policies, staff training, communication protocols, and emergency response plans.
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What’s happening: Certain provisions in Assembly Bill (AB) 1286 (Haney, D-San Francisco) become effective Jan. 1, 2024. The California State Board of Pharmacy encourages licensees to immediately take steps for compliance.
What else to know: The new law establishes a requirement for the reporting of medication errors that occur in the outpatient setting to an entity that will be approved by the board. The Enforcement and Compounding Committee (ECC) will begin its evaluation of entities in the coming months.