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A new document is now online that is designed to assist hospitals in developing plans to measure
their progress on their prevention efforts related to adverse health events.
Issued last month by Stratis Health and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the
Minnesota Adverse Health Events Measurement Guide is meant to serve as a resource for both
new and experienced patient safety teams. The 28-page guide can be found on the Stratis Health
Web site.
Stratis Health, a Bloomington-based nonprofit organization that works to improve health care
quality and safety, has been reviewing reported adverse events, root-cause analyses, and
corrective action plans since 2003 under a contract with MDH. In its review, Stratis has observed
that organizations often have challenges when creating strong measures that allow them to know
if their efforts are having the intended effect, Stratis and MDH said in materials about the guide.
The resources and tools in the document are therefore meant to assist health care organizations in
developing, implementing and evaluating their measurement strategy, they said.
For example, the resource:
- outlines the process recommended for setting up and implementing measurement plans, using examples;
- incorporates points in measurement to strive for, pitfalls to avoid and limitations of
choices;
- provides guidance on how to evaluate the success of an action plan based on
measurement results; and
- discusses what to do when outcomes are not as expected.
Later this year, related training sessions will be offered to hospitals and surgical centers, MDH
said. The training will provide hands-on practice with development and analysis of measurement
strategies. Case studies will be incorporated.
The guide supports the Minnesota Hospital Association adverse health event prevention work,
and it will help MHA members develop their root-cause analysis plans and action plans.
Hospitals are encouraged to disseminate the guide among relevant staff members.
For more information about the guide, contact Julie Apold, MHA director of patient safety, at (651) 603-3538.
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