February 2004
Volume 28 • No. 2

 

Highlights from the December Quality Improvement Patient Safety Committee Report of the SHC Quality Improvement and Safety Committee.
Joseph Hopkins, associate chief of staff, is committee chair:

Patient Safety - Quality Indicators.
These committees have begun work to provide in-depth studies of clinical events in various areas to determine if process improvements can improve overall outcomes:

1. Accidental puncture and laceration, Edward Damrose, faculty otolaryngology, lead physician:
Stanford is near the median of University Hospital Consortium academic centers. (Goal is to be excellent not average.)
No consistent pattern, trend or procedure was problematic.
When no problems are found, goal is to focus on process improvement, such as workload management.
Review of data continues.

2. Post-operative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, David Spain, trauma service chief, lead physician:
Tools approved for chart reviews.
Chart reviews by Quality Improvement Department are under way.

3. Post-operative hemorrhage and hematoma, Stephen Coutre, hematology, lead physician:
Chart review tool is being finalized.

4. Three other indicators have been selected for review in the near future:
Selected infections due to medical care, Lucy Tompkins, chief of infectious diseases and Jose Montoya, faculty infectious disease.
Postoperative physiologic and metabolic derangements, Stephen J. Ruoss, pulmonary and critical care.
IIatrogenic pneumothorax, Norman W. Rizk, pulmonary and critical care.

Inpatient Mortality Study: A committee is reviewing issues and will bring proposals for systems improvements to the Medical Board in the next few months.

Other areas currently being reviewed:
Communication among caregivers, including adding this skill to SHC employee evaluations.
Outcomes from bariatric surgery compare favorably with published benchmarks.
An interdisciplinary team has been reconvened to find ways to ensure that laboratory requisitions include all critical data to avoid delays or rejection of specimens.

The medical staff is seeking opportunities for systems improvement on potential in-hospital complications and adverse events after surgeries and/or procedures. Physicians should record any adverse patient event into the SHC Patient Safety Net (PSN). This icon is on all hospital work stations.

The hospital is standardizing pumps in all units to reduce the possibility of wrong pump settings.

'Real World' benefits can flow from 'real time' licensure visit in Apri

TECH Desk
demystifies for medical staff

4Cs of Communication are the Corner Stones of patient safety

Eight unaccepable abbreviations/chart.pdf

Bryan Bohman sees medical board service more like medicine than anesthesia

Advanced Med Center / Cancer Center Quick List

HIPAA Tip

Profiles added to physician credentialing

Physician photos makeup slated

Quality Corner:
New UPDATE feature