Entries for January 2014
January 2014
January 2014Pressure ulcers are one of the most reported adverse health events.
The injuries they cause to skin and underlying tissue are painful and
can lead to infection or other complication for patients. The adverse
health event reporting system has helped identify previously unknown
risks for pressure ulcers, and it appears hospitals are making solid
progress in preventing pressure ulcers. In particular, in the
2012-13 reporting, Bethesda Hospital,
part of HealthEast Care System in St. Paul; as well as Hennepin County
Medical Center and the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview,
both in Minneapolis made significant progress in
reducing the number of reportable pressure ulcers.
January 2014In 2011, Fairview Southdale began participating in the statewide effort
to expand safety practices, such as site marking and the Time Out
process (a pause by the procedure team prior to the start of a procedure
to ensure the correct patient is receiving the correct procedure at the
correct site) outside of the operating room, which included applying
the best practices for patients receiving regional nerve blocks. In early 2013, a plan was implemented to educate the anesthesiologists utilizing an SBAR approach. These efforts have helped Fairview Southdale achieve 360 days without a reportable wrong site regional nerve block.
January 2014At the foundation of successful patient safety and quality
improvement effort is a culture of patient safety within the hospital or
surgical center. A strong safety culture can help minimize medical
errors and strong support from leadership is crucial to truly moving the
needle on patient safety and quality. Dr. Mark Migliori, chair of the perioperative safety committee
at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, part of Allina Health,
believes a culture of safety is a prerequisite for delivering good care
for every patient, every procedure, every time.
January 2014The Adverse Health Event reporting system has helped identify a specific
population that is at a very high risk for injury if they sustain a
fall. Due to increasing medical complexities in an aging population,
falls resulting in serious injury or death continue to challenge
hospitals and evidence shows falls are increasing across the community.
In the past year it has been identified that 90 percent of fall deaths
in Minnesota hospitals occur in patients who are either over age 85 or
are on medications known as anticoagulants.
January 2014
January 2014
January 2014
January 2014
January 2014