patient safety - Page 1

High-Reliability Operations emphasis error management

High-Reliability Operations emphasize error management

A system of checks & balances

August 1, 2019

What is a High Reliability Organization? The work is highly technical and complex, operators require a high level of technical training and certification, and the consequences of error can be catastrophic. Hence, “it has to be done right every time.”

DuPont Sustainable Solutions expands safety consulting into healthcare industry

May 19, 2016

DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) announced today that it has expanded its safety consulting offerings to include the healthcare industry in an effort to address industry challenges such as patient and staff injuries, as well as errors and incidents. DSS expertise in other high-hazard industries can help build and cultivate a strong safety culture in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

What caused errors in those lab tests your doctor ordered for you?

Surprising study finds that most mistakes don’t happen in the laboratory

April 21, 2014

Laboratory testing is indispensable to patient care. Although it accounts for only 2% of U.S. healthcare expenditures, laboratory medicine is critical for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning and is the topic of ECRI Institute’s most recent safety study.

Public health

One third of skilled nursing patients harmed in treatment

A study by Medicare’s inspector general of skilled nursing facilities says nearly 22,000 patients were injured and more than 1,500 died in a single month — a higher rate of medical errors than hospitals

Marshall Allen

April 4, 2014

One-in-three patients in skilled nursing facilities suffered a medication error, infection or some other type of harm related to their treatment, according to a government report released today that underscores the widespread nature of the country’s patient harm problem.

Patient falls off OR table: System error or human error?

March 6, 2014

An anesthetized patient fell to the floor headfirst from an operating room table during a laparoscopic appendectomy in Scotland. The table had been tilted into an extreme head down position to facilitate the operation. Fortunately, no injury occurred.

Texting while doctoring: a patient safety hazard

Physician texting while doctoring could be hazardous, according to an ideas and opinions piece published in the Dec. 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

December 30, 2013

Christine A. Sinsky, M.D., from the Medical Associates Clinic in Dubuque, Iowa, and John W. Beasley, M.D., from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, discuss the potential risks posed by physicians typing into electronic health records during patient encounters.

Union, state clash over health care worker mask-or-flu-shot requirement

Patients may be "fearful" of the mask

December 2, 2013

The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) has filed a lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court, challenging a rule that requires health care workers to either get flu vaccinations or wear surgical masks during flu season.

Health care industry must modernize patient lifting for safety’s sake, says report

A typical bedside nurse lifts two tons per day

June 18, 2013

Patients in healthcare facilities are in danger when they’re being moved or lifted because of institutional resistance to using available technology, according to a new report from an advocacy group. And patients aren't the only ones at risk of injury.