HCPro.com: Briefings on Patient Safety

The regulatory news, field-tested tips, and staff training tools you need to successfully create a culture of patient safety in your facility! Don't miss another issue. Subscribe today!

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September 2008 (Volume 9, Issue 9)	view entire issue

California hospital team takes aim on VTE
Patients with venous thromboembolism, which includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, account for 600,000 hospitalizations and 200,000 fatalities each year, the National Quality Forum estimates. A three-year study led by Greg Maynard, MD, MS, a clinical professor of medicine and division chief of hospital medicine at the University of California San Diego Medical Center, has made waves in an effort to reduce this number.?

Increased documentation added to 2009 NPSGs
With the release of the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) came some cumbersome documentation requirements. The Joint Commission has modified several of its NPSGs to include more language about documentation, including: Goal #8, concerning medication reconciliation Goal #13, concerning patient involvement The Universal Protocol During the July 18 HCPro audioconference "2009 National Patient Safety Goals: Expert Analysis and Advice for Compliance," Bud Pate, REHS, vice president of The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA, and Kurt Patton, former Joint Commission executive director of accreditation services and principal of Patton Healthcare Consulting, LLC, in Glendale, AZ, discussed these requirements and the rest of the 2009 NPSGs.

Evolving titles in patient safety: Medication safety officer
Keeping medications safe is not a new concept for most hospitals. The Institute of Medicine report To Err is Human thrust this topic into the limelight in 1999 when it estimated that 98,000 patients die each year as a results of medical errors. Since then, The Joint Commission has published its National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG), a few of which specifically concern medication safety. A recent trend coinciding with these advances is the advent of the medication safety officer position.

Other recently-published articles from Briefings on Patient Safety:

Minnesota develops rules for preventing surgical errors

2009 Leadership standards tell hospital leaders to make patient safety a priority

Taking responsibility for building accountability among staff members

Work stress and its effect on a professional environment

Family-activated RRTs stress involvement

Early warning system to be surveyed in January

WalkRounds involve senior leaders with frontline staff

Infection control-related NPSG not new to field

The fundamentals of accountability

Three keys to ensuring your anticoagulant therapy program is ready

Pennsylvania association promotes standardized wristbands to prevent errors

Latest Sentinel Event Alert exposes disruptive behavior among staff members

Evolving titles in patient safety: Medication safety officer

Increased documentation added to 2009 NPSGs

California hospital team takes aim on VTE

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