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Hospitals are having a tough time complying with a JCAHO requirement that calls for hospitals to create standardize the abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols that staff and physicians should-and should not-use throughout the organization.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, May 20, 2004

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Standardized abbreviations are the toughest patient safety goal to comply with

Hospitals are finding it most difficult to comply with a JCAHO requirement that calls for hospitals to create standardize the abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols that staff and physicians should-and should not-use throughout the organization.

Nearly 65% of hospitals that received a random unannounced survey from the JCAHO did not comply with the requirement (National Patient Safety Goal #2b). In addition, about 77% of hospitals that underwent their announced, triennial survey were in compliance with the goal, according to new statistics released by the JCAHO.

Hospitals also struggle with the JCAHO requirement to implement a surgical site marking process (goal 4b). Fewer than 69% of hospitals were in full compliance with the goal during unannounced surveys in 1993. Hospitals that underwent announced surveys fared much better with this goal, however; nearly 94% of them were found to be in full compliance with it.

Organizations appeared to have an easier time ensuring free-flow protection on general-use patient-controlled analgesia pumps (goal #5a), standardizing and limiting the number of drug concentrations (goal #3b), and testing clinical alarm systems (goal #6a). Organizations were in near-perfect compliance each of these goals last year.

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