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Share reports on safe practices with medical staff

Medical Staff Leader Connection, May 6, 2004

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Dear Medical Staff Leader:
 
The medical staff plays an integral role in ensuring safe and effective patient care. Therefore, as a medical staff leader, it's important that you devote time to staying on top of the latest patient safety developments. This week I would like to bring the National Quality Forum's (NQF's) recently released report on safe practices for better health care to your attention. A summary of this report can be found at www.qualityforum.org.

The report contains detailed information about 30 practices or programs that the NQF has investigated and determined them to be effective in improving the safety of health care. Although hospitals nationwide have implemented some of the 30 practices discussed in the report, including surgical site marking and adopting a culture of safety, all hospitals and medical staffs should take a look at the consensus report and carefully consider implementing those practices they have not yet adopted.

It's interesting to note that many of the programs and practices included in the NQF report are similar to those contained in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ's) evidence report/technology assessment, No. 43 report titled "Making Healthcare Safer: A critical analysis of patient safety practices." This report is available at www.ahrq.gov.

Share these two reports with both the general medical staff and the medical executive committee. Reviewing the NQF's and AHRQ's stance on patient safety will spark ideas for what steps your organization should take to deliver safe quality care.

That's all for this week.

All the best,

Hugh Greeley
http://www.greeley.com/seminars/

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