ECRI: Most wrong-patient errors are preventable
Accreditation Insider, September 27, 2016
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Accreditation Insider!
Despite the onset of electronic medical records and other ways of identifying patients, wrong-patient procedures still occur with distressing frequency. In a newly published analysis, the ECRI Institute reviewed 7,600 wrong-patient events in 181 hospitals. Roughly 9% of those errors resulted in a patient being hurt or dying, despite the fact that most of the identification mistakes were preventable.
"Although many healthcare workers doubt they will actually make a mistake in identifying their patients, ECRI Institute [Patient Safety Organization (PSO)] and our partner PSOs have collected thousands of reports that show this isn't the case," says William M. Marella, MBA, MMI, ECRI Institute executive director of PSO Operations and Analytics. "We've seen that anyone on the patient's healthcare team can make an identification error, including physicians, nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, and transporters."
Despite the onset of electronic medical records and other ways of identifying patients, wrong-patient procedures were still the second most frequently reported Sentinel Event in 2015. The ECRI report said the big drivers of patient mix-ups are increased patient volume, multiple handoffs, and interoperability issues between IT systems. The report also found:
• “Incorrect patient identification can occur during multiple procedures and processes, including but not limited to patient registration, electronic data entry and transfer, medication administration, medical and surgical interventions, blood transfusions, diagnostic testing, patient monitoring, and emergency care.”
• “Patient identification mistakes can occur in every healthcare setting, from hospitals and nursing homes to physician offices and pharmacies.”
• “No one on the patient's healthcare team is immune from making a wrong-patient error.”
• “Many patient identification errors affect at least two people. For example, when a patient receives a medication intended for another patient, both patients—the one who received the wrong medication and the one whose medication was omitted—can be harmed.”
The Joint Commission launched its “Speak Up™: Right ID, Right Care” campaign on May 6, focusing on the importance of dual identifiers in healthcare. The accreditor’s press release contains an animated video, podcast, and infographic that are free for download and reuse. Click here to visit the “Speak Up™: Right ID, Right Care” page.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Accreditation Insider!
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Math can be tricky: TJC corrects ABHR storage requirement
- Air control equals infection control
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Five ways to safeguard your patients' valuables
- The consequences of an incomplete medical record
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Skills of effective case managers
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- E-mailed
-
- Air control equals infection control
- OSHA HazCom updates include labeling, SDS requirements
- Plan of Care Supports Documentation of Homebound Status
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Note from the instructor: CMS clarifies billing guidelines on proper billing for drugs in a single-dose or single-use vial, including billing for discarded drugs
- Neurological checks for head injuries
- Modifiers and medical necessity
- Follow these tips to properly report bladder catheter codes
- Five ways to safeguard your patients' valuables
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Searched