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Success Stories
Reduction in Wrong Surgeries:
Achieving an Error Rate 10 Times Better than
the National Average
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In a hospital in
the Mid-south we worked with the Chief
Medical Officer, the Chair of the
Department of Surgery, and the Dean of
Clinical Affairs. Their
goal was to eliminate wrong surgeries by
improving communication in the operating
room.
Both physicians and physician leadership
were evaluated by the hospital based on
the number of cases. There was
tremendous pressure to increase
throughput. The increased pace led to
increased errors and a rise in claims,
caused by a series of serious wrong
surgery incidents (approximately one
every 60 days).
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The leadership wanted a way to retain
their hard-won efficiencies but reduce
their medical error rates that were directly
draining dollars off the bottom line. LifeWings created specific tools to
allow for team building, a defined
communication protocol between
physicians and staff based on the
aviation model, and Hardwired Safety
ToolsSM that incorporated The
Joint Commission Time-out briefing.
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The training and Hardwired Safety ToolsSM
were
successful. To date, the hospital, with
our help, achieved an error rate of 0.15
per 10,000 procedures; a rate over 10
times better than the national average.
We believe this reflects the results of
an improved level of coordination and
communication among the staff. The
improved communication in the operating
room and increased
efficiencies reduced the amount of
profit needed to pay claims and created
a better place to practice medicine for
the physicians.
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