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See which 2005 Patient Safety Goals affect you

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, September 1, 2004

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The JCAHO's 2005 National Patient Safety Goals will mean ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) must develop plans to address surgical fires, improve the timeliness of reporting lab results, and take steps to prevent errors in look-alike and sound-alike drugs.

The JCAHO announced the new goals in late July. The 2005 goals also require ASCs to

use two patient identifiers when taking specimens
improve the timeliness of reporting lab results
prevent errors in look-alike and sound-alike drugs
develop a process for patient involvement when documenting their medications and communicate that information to appropriate caregivers
reduce the risk of surgical fires

Seven other goals from 2004 also made the final list, but the JCAHO didn't change those requirements. Visit www.jcaho.org for the complete list. 

JCAHO identifies specific goals. Some of the proposed 2005 goals fail to fit into the ambulatory realm, says Jan Allison, RN, compliance and regional coordinator with Physicians' Surgical Center in Norman, OK. For example, patient fall prevention doesn't apply to ASCs and ultimately didn't make the final ambulatory care list. "In a surgery center, patients typically have a staff member with them at all times, so falls aren't that much of a high-risk situation," she says.

In response to this, the JCAHO posted goals specific to ambulatory facilities on its site. Called Phase 2, the adapted goals for ASCs will take effect January 1, 2005, says Barbara Ann Harmer, RN, BSN, MHA, senior consultant for Healthcare Consultants International, a consulting branch of the AAAHC.

Achieving all the National Patient Safety Goals will lead to improved communication and education. "Every good facility must pay attention to these details and not take them for granted," Harmer says.

In 2004, ambulatory healthcare professionals said they were concerned with some proposed changes to the goals, which included establishing bar-coding systems by 2007. Other items absent from the list are goals on wrong-site surgery, which are now included in the JCAHO's Universal Protocol, and alarm systems, which have been incorporated into the accreditor's standards.

Stay tuned for future BOAA issues for tips from your peers on how you can comply with these new JCAHO requirements.

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