Standards bodies such as the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(or JACHO), and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
(known as IHI), have taken notice of the need to address
early identification of a patient’s compromised health
status and are recommending actions that should be taken
by hospitals. The IHI suggests the creation of Medical Emergency Teams, and strongly advocates the early
escalation of patient problems to appropriately trained
clinicians. Intervention prior to an adverse event is
the goal.
As one of the 2009 Patient Safety initiatives, JACHO is
requiring hospitals to develop a
suitable method that enables health care staff members
to directly request additional assistance from specially
trained individual(s) when the patient’s condition
appears to be worsening. JCAHO also highlights that a
significant number of critical inpatient events are
preceded by warning signs for an average of up to 6 to 8
hours. Critical events such as cardiopulmonary and
respiratory arrests or changes in patient’s vital
signs are estimated to occur in 4% to 17% of admitted
patients. Early response by specially trained
individual(s) to these changes in a patient’s
condition may reduce these adverse events and prevent
unnecessary patient deaths.
• Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JACHO)
> Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal Goals
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
> 5
Million Lives Campaign
The ECRI Institute released the Top Ten Hospital Medical Device Hazards report in 20009.
View report here
No. 1: Alarm Hazards are alarm conditions that are not effectively communicated, placing patients at risk for injury or death.
ECRI recommends limiting nuisance alarms, and ensuring alarms are quickly and consistently conveyed to staff, and implement an alarm-enhancement system.
Related Link: Real-Time
Clinical Data
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