AED Failures Connected to Deaths from Cardiac Arrest
Aug. 30, 2011—A study published online last week in Annals of Emergency Medicine reports that more than 1,000 cardiac arrest deaths over 15 years were connected to the failure of automated external defibrillators (AEDs); battery failure accounted for almost one-quarter of the failures.
PharMEDium Unveils New Website with Focus on Patient Safety
Aug. 15, 2011—PharMEDium Services, LLC, market leader for customized pharmacy sterile compounding for hospital intravenous and epidural therapies, launched its new website,www.pharmedium.com, which now provides updates on drug shortages, patient safety and ready-to-use pharmacy compounding services.
ABMS Announces the Creation of a Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the organization overseeing the certification of physician specialists in the United States, announces the creation of an award for a distinguished national leader in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety. Nominations must be submitted by Aug. 31.
HLI Launches Latest Provider Friendly Terminology Solution Upgrade
Denver, Colorado, July 26, 2011 — Health Language, Inc.® (HLI), the global leader in medical terminology management, announced that it has expanded its provider friendly technology (PFT) solution to over 120,000 terms in addition to the existing terms used by SNOMED-CT and ICD.
It’s Just Common Sense
Editor’s Notebook
It’s Just Common Sense
I recently moderated a webinar about a problem in healthcare that hadn’t occurred to me—nor to many others, it appears—but seems quite obvious now that it’s been brought to my attention. In the webinar, Dennis Tribble, chief pharmacy officer at Baxa Corporation, joined Stuart Levine of ISMP and Denise LaStoria, owner of Training Advantages, LLC, to discuss problems inherent in train-the-trainer programs used for technology training, especially in the pharmacy.
“Can’t Rather than Don’t” Saves Lives
Human Factors
“Can’t Rather than Don’t” Saves Lives
A recent article in The New York Times, “U.S. Inaction Lets Look-Alike Tubes Kill Patients,” (Harris, 2010) shows that American hospitals are 80 or more years behind manufacturing industries in basic safety. This inexcusable situation deserves zero tolerance from patients, insurers, healthcare professionals, and other healthcare stakeholders.
Applying the IHI Global Trigger Tool to Pediatric and Special Needs Populations
Applying the IHI Global Trigger Tool to Pediatric and Special Needs Populations
Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare (Gillette) provides specialized healthcare services to individuals with disabilities, with a primary focus on children. Serving a wide geographic region, Gillette’s programs focus on the needs of patients with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, neuromuscular diseases, brain and spinal cord injuries, and complex neurological, craniofacial, and orthopedic conditions.
Forever Changed: Shared Learning in Patient Safety
In an effort to promote patient safety, Baptist Health South Florida (Baptist Health) has instituted the Shared Learning process, the purpose of which is to educate and communicate with all stakeholders—our clinical staff, the Quality and Patient Safety Steering Council, and board members—in a proactive way.
Call for Letters of Intent to Conduct Research and Development in Patient Safety
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s Research Grants Program seeks to stimulate new, innovative projects directed toward enhancing patient safety in the United States. The Program’s objective is to promote studies leading to the prevention of human errors, system errors, patient injuries and the consequences of such adverse events in the healthcare setting.