A customized tool is helping to improve patient outcomes in 经典三级 System鈥檚 hospitals. Called a Harm Prevention Index, the tool helps to track incidents of harm to patients 鈥 injuries that result from the patients鈥 care, not their disease.
Each month staff in the Infection Prevention, Pharmacy and Quality departments tabulate 10 measures in all Pipeline hospitals:
- Adverse events not listed otherwise
- Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers
- Falls resulting in minor injuries
- Medical errors
- Adverse drug events
- Hospital-acquired blood clots
- Central-line associated blood stream infections
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
- difficile infections
- Antibiotic-resistant staph infections
Pipeline鈥檚 Chief Medical Officer Vincent Green, M.D., and Corporate Quality Director Percy Cupen modeled the company鈥檚 program after Harm Across the Board, a strategy developed by the American Hospital Association and the Partnership for Patients, a part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
A graph shows a clear reduction in the number of incidents per thousand patient discharges from Pipeline鈥檚 hospitals since the index was adopted in 2021. The line at 15 indicates a benchmark for the average harm index.
鈥淥ur employees should be proud because it鈥檚 a team effort,鈥 Green said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just one department or one group. It鈥檚 everything. It鈥檚 nursing and it鈥檚 housekeeping 鈥- housekeeping staff help prevent slips and falls.鈥
Green commended concerted efforts to improve in major problem areas, such as preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
鈥淲e have had the greatest success in reducing our hypoglycemic events, in which diabetic patients had their blood sugar drop too low. We put extra effort and processes in place to make sure we double check. Before we give someone their morning dose of insulin, we make sure they鈥檙e going to eat breakfast. If they鈥檙e going to have a procedure and go under general anesthesia, they would not have food,鈥 Green said.
鈥淭he graph shows tremendous improvement, but we haven鈥檛 gone down to zero,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 time to move the goal posts. Our ultimate goal is no patients harmed ever.鈥
Employees with additional harm prevention ideas should contact Green directly at [email protected]. Suggestions are welcome.
3.8.2023