What to monitor within your EC management programs

I recently chatted with someone about items you need to monitor in the EC.

There are myriad activities, primarily represented through the "C" elements of performance (EPs) in the EC chapter, that revolve around the "care and feeding" of the care environment--medical equipment, life safety equipment, emergency power equipment, conduction of safety rounds, and the like.

A solid EC program is going to have a process for monitoring compliance with all these "have to" elements, just to ensure that the EC program’s baseline competencies, if you will, are in place and functioning appropriately.

Beyond the activities and processes that you "have to do," things get a whole lot grayer in very short order.

The key standard for the rest of the monitoring expectations is EC.9.10 (the hospital monitors conditions in the environment). These expectations are pretty much a function of the risk management process in the care environment. There are six EPs involved in EC.9.10, pretty much divided into constant activities and periodic (at least annually) evaluations of the whole kit and caboodle.