Thank you for joining ASHRM in celebrating this year’s National Patient Safety Awareness Week where we kicked off ASHRM’s theme, “Everyone is a Risk Manager,” or ERM, which emphasizes the vital role that all healthcare workers hold as guardians of patient safety.
Although patient safety is a top priority every day, National Patient Safety Awareness Week provided an opportunity to focus on adopting practices that help eliminate or minimize serious safety events, and support ASHRM’s ongoing journey of Getting to Zero. During National Patient Safety Awareness Week, ASHRM provided important safety tips and information that align with the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Program. The goal of this initiative is to assist hospitals in adopting practices that have the potential to reduce inpatient harm by 40 percent and readmission by 20 percent.
Throughout the year, ASHRM’s Patient Safety Portal will be updated with more patient safety strategies, tips, resources and more that all healthcare providers will find useful. With these efforts, we hope to promote a comprehensive, organization-wide framework that includes all healthcare employees from operations, to clinical, to financial and beyond—to assist you when making valuable risk management decisions.
Because when it comes to patient safety, ASHRM believes Everyone is a Risk Manager (ERM). Together, we can get to zero.
Patient Safety Tips Aligned with the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Program
ASHRM has provided important patient safety tips and information that are in alignment with the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) program. The goal of this initiative is to assist hospitals in adopting practices that have the potential to reduce inpatient harm by 40 percent and readmission by 20 percent. ASHRM will continue to be a resource to help improve patient safety in these areas:
“Keeping Our Kids Safe” by Children’s National Medical Center
ASHRM President Mary Anne Hilliard opened and closed the Annual Conference & Exhibition by speaking about ASHRM’s initiative of “Getting to Zero ™ Through the Power of One.” This video by Children’s National Medical Center explains how each of us has a role to play in helping to eliminate preventable, serious safety events. Click Here to view the presentation and learn how you can make a difference in patient safety at your organization.
Is Patient Safety Important to You?
Click Here to test your patient safety knowledge today!
10 Tips to Help Promote Patient Safety
Click Here to download the PDF.
Patient Safety I
Set the Framework. Participants will be able to describe the evolution of patient safety, identify the characteristics of a Just Culture, and explain how human factors influence patient safety outcomes. For more information, Click Here.
Patient Safety II
Take the Lead. Participants will be able to outline strategies to obtain actionable information from data mining efforts, professionally respond to staff reactions to adverse events, and examine the relationship between medication errors and technology. For more information, Click Here.
HRM Certificate Program: Barton Modules
A cornerstone of ASHRM's professional development resources, the HRM Certificate Program covers key aspects of risk management while providing valuable continuing education credits. The program includes three modules: Module 1: Essentials in HRM, Module 2: Applications in HRM and Module 3: Advanced Forum in HRM. Participants who complete all three modules will earn a certificate. Click Here to learn more…
CPHRM
Administered by the American Hospital Association, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM) is the healthcare industry’s premier certification for the risk management profession. The American Hospital Association's Certification Center, determines eligibility requirements, exam content, testing procedures and other aspects of the certification and oversees the examination process. Click Here to learn more…
White Papers
Serious safety events: Getting to Zero™ White Paper
Journal Articles
Leadership Development: The silent organizational pathology of insidious intimidation
Special Focus: Risk & Research: Successful risk assessment may not always lead to successful risk control: A systematic literature review of risk control after root cause analysis
Special Focus: Risk & Research: Nurse staffing and skill mix patterns: Are there differences in outcomes?
Patient Safety: Using prospective hazard analysis to assess an active shooter emergency operations plan
Patient Safety: Reuse of single-use devices: Protecting your reprocessing program
Risk Management: Beyond FMEA: The structured what-if technique (SWIFT)
Clinical Risk Management: Ethics, risk, and patient-centered care: How collaboration between clinical ethicists and risk management leads to respectful patient care
For more patient safety articles, Click Here
1. American Society for Healthcare Engineering 2012 Advocacy Report
The report includes a collection of articles and information based on the society’s unified code initiative, and details how codes that are conflicting, outdated burden the health care system. This affects patient safety due to the fact that the billions of dollars wasted on outdated or conflicting codes is money that hospitals can be used toward safe patient care. Click Here to download the report.
2. New Injection Safety Campaign Stresses One Needle, One Syringe at One Time
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) have released new training materials as part of their One and Only Campaign. The campaign aims to eliminate adverse events resulting from unsafe injection practices.
Since 2001, more than 130,000 patients in the United States have been notified of potential exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV due to lapses in basic infection control practices. Many of these lapses involved healthcare providers reusing syringes, resulting in contamination of medication vials or containers which were then used on subsequent patients.
The One and Only Campaign stresses that providers must use a needle and a syringe only one time for each and every injection. This practice will greatly reduce the risk of contracting hepatitis and other infections through medical injection.
The goal of the campaign is to ensure patients are protected every time they receive a medical injection. SIPC members believe the goal can be attained by empowering patients and reeducating healthcare providers regarding safe injection practices. Targeted education and awareness campaigns focus on influencing the culture of patient safety.
A wide range of educational materials are available through the campaign including:
Click Here for more information about SIPC’s One and Only Campaign and to download campaign training resources.
3. Join ASHRM in Eliminating Surgical Fires
ASHRM and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are spreading awareness of the factors that contribute to surgical fires.
ASHRM is one of more than 20 organizations participating in the FDA’s Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative. The FDA launched the initiative on October 13, 2011 to supplement the efforts of healthcare organizations that developed tools and programs to reduce the risk of surgical fires. The goals of the initiative are to:
Surgical fires are defined as fires that occur in, on or around a patient who is undergoing a medical or surgical procedure. According to the ECRI Institute’s New Clinical Guide to Surgical Fire Prevention, an estimated 550 to 650 surgical fires occur in the United States each year.
Surgical fires can occur any time three elements are present:
Click Here for more information on the FDA’s Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative.
4. As a SIPC Member, ASHRM Draws Attention to Safe Use of Single-Dose/Single-Use Vials
A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that transmission of life-threatening bacterial infections, including MRSA, can occur when healthcare personnel use medication in containers labeled as single-dose or single-use for more than one patient, a practice that is against standard precautions. This report summarizes the investigation of two outbreaks of invasive Staphylococcus aureus infection confirmed in 10 patients being treated for pain in outpatient clinics. In each outbreak, healthcare personnel had used single-dose or single-use vials for more than one patient.
The Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), a partnership of patient advocacy organizations and foundations, including ASHRM, is using this report to draw attention to the importance of following safe injection practices at all times, even during times of medication shortages. SIPC has put together a portfolio of resources to assist your organization in following safe injection practices. The portfolio includes a:
ASHRM has identified these Patient Safety Resources to assist you in identifying useful information and helpful contacts. Click Here
For more information, contact ashrm@aha.org