• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

JCAHO considers 2004 National Patient Safety Goals
AHRQ recommends patient safety strategies
Home health quality data goes public

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, May 6, 2003

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor Alert!

JCAHO CONSIDERS 2004 NATIONAL PATIENT SAFETY GOALS

Though health care organizations will likely spend another year focusing on patient identification, communication, high-alert medications, wrong-site surgery, infusion pumps, and clinical alarm systems, they may also have to devote energy to new patient safety issues as well.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) will likely keep the same topics under the 2003 National Patient Safety Goals in 2004, according to Richard J. Croteau, MD, executive director for strategic initiatives at the JCAHO, who spoke at an audioconference Monday. However, there is a possibility that the JCAHO may make some of the 2003 Goal "recommendations" (which the JCAHO considers accreditation participation requirements) actual standards, and introduce new recommendations. The JCAHO is also considering adding the following topics to the Goal list in 2004:

- Surgical fires
- Kernicterus
- Elopement

Check out your July issue of Briefings on Patient Safety (BOPS) for more information and Croteau's tips for complying with the goals. Go to http://www.hcmarketplace.com/Prod.cfm?id=234&s=EPSM to subscribe to BOPS.

AHRQ RECOMMENDS PATIENT SAFETY STRATEGIES

Looking for some proven ways to improve patient safety? A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recommends a handful of working condition-related techniques that it believes will cut down on medical errors and reduce procedural complications.

AHRQ hired researchers at Oregon Health and Science University Evidence-based Practice Center to review 115 existing studies at a variety of organizations--both in health care and other fields. The researchers found enough evidence to support related strategies for improving patient safety such as the following:

- Increasing nurse staffing levels in acute care hospitals and nursing homes
- Having experienced physicians and other staff perform complex procedures and certain types of clinical care
- Reducing interruptions and distractions to staff
- Improving systems for exchanging information in the "handoff" between hospitals and other health care settings

Go to www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/worksum.htm to view a summary of the report, titled "The Effect of Health Care Working Conditions on Patient Safety." The AHRQ will post the full report at www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix later this spring.

HOME HEALTH QUALITY DATA GOES PUBLIC

Hospital staff curious about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's (CMS) plans for publicizing quality data may want to check out how the agency is handling data on home health agencies. CMS last week began publishing quality data on Medicare-certified home health agencies in eight states.

The data grades the agencies based on 11 quality measures covering issues such as patients' improvement in walking and moving around, abilities to transfer in and out of bed, pain, bathing capabilities, dressing, and taking medication orally. CMS is publishing the data over the Internet, and is placing advertisements containing some of the data in 16 newspapers within the states.

Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are piloting the quality measure program, which will expand to all 50 states in the fall.

The program is part of a broad plan to give consumers better access to information in a variety of health care settings. CMS launched a similar program for nursing homes last year, and is working more tentatively towards developing public quality measures for hospitals. Currently, the organization is working with a variety of organizations to encourage hospitals to voluntarily release data on 10 quality measures. The American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Federation of American Hospitals sent a letter to hospitals and health systems last week urging them to participate.

Go to www.medicare.gov and scroll down to "Search Tools," then click on "Home Health Compare" to see the home health quality measures in the pilot states. Go to www.aha.org and click on "Quality and Patient Safety" to read the letter to hospitals.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor Alert!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive