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"Guided by the safety improvement successes in the
aviation industry, our approach to medical mistakes needs to change from the
mode of 'name you, blame you, shame you' to sharing information so that an error
is not repeated. Like the patients that they care for, health care professionals
are human, and humans are not perfect—this is something we cannot change.
However, we can change the system in which providers care for patients.
Research—much of it sponsored by our Agency—has shown that system improvements
can reduce the error rate and improve the quality of health care."
John M. Eisenberg, M.D., Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Medical Errors
How To
Reduce Medical Errors in Your Hospital:
Since
the Institute of Medicine report,
TO ERR IS HUMAN: BUILDING A SAFER HEALTH
SYSTEM, which estimated the number of deaths in the U.S.
each year due to preventable medical errors to be between 44,000 and
98,000 people, LifeWings has been focused on providing services
which improve
patient safety through the reduction of medical errors. The IOM
defines a medical error to be "...the failure of a planned action to
be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an
aim". Among the problems that commonly occur during the course of
providing healthcare are:
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Adverse drug events and improper transfusions
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Surgical injuries and wrong-site surgeries
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Restraint-related injuries or death
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Falls, burns, and pressure ulcers
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Mistaken patient identities.
Since
2001 we have helped more than
85 healthcare facilities reduce
medical errors through the use of our services. With recent changes
in the industry, reducing medical errors has gone from being a
self-imposed improvement goal for our clients to a critical mandate
for their long-term viability. Specifically, the following have made
medical error reduction the most critical goal for many
healthcare facilities:
These all point to one conclusion;
now, even more than in 1999 with the watershed report from the IOM,
in order to provide a reasonable level of care to the U.S. public,
the healthcare industry must dramatically reduce the incidence
of preventable medical errors.
LifeWings can help Your Facility Reduce Medical Errors
by
Implementing Communication Practices and Safety Tools Used
Successfully by Other High Reliability Organizations:
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Read What Clients Say About
How The LifeWings Program Prevents
Medical Errors:
"In the Spring of 2004, we had LifeWings come to our hospital and go through all
our departments. A few weeks later we had them give an 8-hour workshop with
all our personnel, including, most importantly, our doctors. The workshop
was given on three consecutive days, and all employees and doctors picked one of
these days. The physicians were mixed in with all the employees. It was an
enjoyable learning experience. It improved the culture of the hospital.
We implemented all their suggested hardwired safety tools, and as a result, have
had an excellent safety record. We have not had any wrong site surgeries, and
our infection rate is extremely low, especially in comparison to our other
hospitals in town, and national averages. Our most recent study showed that
pre-op antibiotics were given in the appropriate time interval 96% of the time.
I would strongly recommend this program. The longer that your hospital system
waits to implement this type of program, the more patients will be harmed by not
having a safety program in place. It will require that all employees and
physicians be required to have training about these safety measures in order to
get the maximum benefit."
William Schreiber, M.D.
Texas Spine and Joint Hospital
“As we pursue opportunities to reduce
errors and the potential for errors in our hospitals, utilizing the
expertise of LifeWings has proven to be a way to significantly
improve many of our patient-related processes. It is clear to us
that LifeWings’ aviation expertise is directly transferable to the
significant opportunity we have to reduce errors and variability in
healthcare.”
Cameron J. Welton
Chief Operating Officer
Methodist Healthcare
Memphis, Tennessee
More testimonials...
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By adapting
crew resource management (CRM)
techniques used successfully for years by organizations with
outstanding safety records, LifeWings trains healthcare personnel
how to communicate to avoid medical errors. Our five step
Patient Safety Improvement Program
reduces medical errors by providing:
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A better environment, improved communication, and a
culture change for your physicians, nurses and
staff;
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Improved systems, processes, protocols, and safety
tools;
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The ability to continuously monitor, measure, and improve
upon your facility's areas of potential risk;
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A comprehensive system to help you meet IHI, The Joint
Commission,
NQF, and ACGME safety goals and core competencies;
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Guaranteed results.
Because we measure the effectiveness of
our engagements, we have
demonstrable proof that the program we
provide reduces medical errors. Specifically we have seen the
reduction of:
Short-term consulting services or
out-of-the-box solutions do not provide the level of detail
required to uncover problems unique to your facility and develop
solutions designed for your staff, your systems, and your hospital's
patient safety goals.
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