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1. The JCAHO approves the 2004 National Patient Safety Goals 2. New universal protocol for wrong-site, wrong-patient surgery 3. Aspirin use can reduce chance of deadly infections

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 1, 2003

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1. THE JCAHO APPROVES THE 2004 NATIONAL PATIENT SAFETY GOALS

This week, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) released its National Patient Safety Goals for next year. The good news: The 2004 goals include all six goals from 2003. For 2004, the JCAHO expanded the 2003 read-back requirement to include critical test results. The new goal introduced for 2004 focuses on health care-acquired infections. The new goals take effect in January.

Goal #7, the newest addition, requires accredited organizations to reduce the risk of health care-acquired infections. The requirements include complying with all current Center for Disease Control hand hygiene guidelines and treating all identified cases of unanticipated death or major loss of function as a result of health care-acquired infection as a sentinel event.

2. NEW UNIVERSAL PROTOCOL FOR WRONG-SITE, WRONG-PATIENT SURGERY

The JCAHO also approved a universal protocol for wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person surgery this week. The protocol applies to all operations and invasive procedures. All accredited organizations must comply with it by July 2004.

Key components of the protocol include pre-operative verification, site marking, taking a "time-out" immediately before the procedure, and adapting the requirements to include bedside procedures. The protocol expands on requirements in the National Patient Safety Goals and is designed to create a zero-tolerance within organizations for wrong-site, wrong-procedure, or wrong-person surgery.

3. ASPIRIN USE CAN REDUCE CHANCE OF DEADLY INFECTIONS

Another good reason to take aspirin: Researchers say that when people take aspirin, their bodies produce salicylic acid to break down the medication. Salicylic acid disrupts the ability of toxic bacteria to adhere to host tissue, thus reducing the chance of developing a deadly infection, according to a recent study by Dartmouth Medical School.

The study focused on Staphylococcus aureus and how it reacts to animal tissue. The bacterium is a leading cause of staph infections and abscesses. Researchers found the aspirin byproduct reduced the bacteria's ability to adhere to tissue and produce toxins. Without the ability to produce toxins, the bacteria cannot spread to other tissue. Animals treated with aspirin had smaller abscesses and fewer bacteria present in the infection, researchers noted.

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