Information Center Risk Management News: Healthcare and Patient Safety Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA): Patient Safety News
Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA): Patient Safety News
A Video News Show for Health Professionals. New broadcasts monthly, with online video and transcripts.
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Safety Precautions for Huber Needles
FDA is alerting healthcare professionals about safety precautions to be used with Huber needles, and about a recall of one company's products. Huber needles are used to access ports implanted in chronically ill patients to withdraw blood and infuse ...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Don't Use Thermoflect Products with MRI
The manufacturer Encompass Group is alerting healthcare professionals that Thermoflect products should not be used in an MRI environment. These products, such as blankets and apparel, are intended to prevent hypothermia by keeping patients warm usin...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Valproate Sodium and Birth Defects
FDA is reminding healthcare professionals and patients about an increased risk of birth defects in infants whose mothers took valproate sodium and related products during pregnancy. These drugs, which are used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Kidney Impairment with Byetta
To help clinicians weigh the benefits and risks of the diabetes drug Byetta (exenatide), FDA is requiring that information about the risk of renal impairment be added to the drug's labeling. From April 2005 to October 2008, FDA received 78...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Cleviprex Recalled due to Particulates
Here's information about a recall of certain lots of Cleviprex injectable emulsion, an antihypertensive drug made by The Medicines Company. Vials in the recalled lots may contain particulate matter which has been found to be inert stainless ste...
Preventing Medical Errors: Warning on Counterfeit Alli
FDA is warning the public about a potentially dangerous counterfeit version of the weight-loss drug Alli (orlistat). To date, all the counterfeits seem to have been sold on the internet. The genuine version of Alli, which is approved by FDA for ove...
Preventing Medical Errors: Medical Errors from Misreading Letters and Numbers
An article by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) reminds healthcare practitioners how dangerous it can be to misread the letters and numbers on prescriptions, drug orders and medical records. Unfortunately, these mistakes are easy to...
FDA Consumer Corner: Caution about Sexual Enhancement Products
You can easily find them on the internet - products sold as "dietary supplements" to enhance sexual performance or treat erectile dysfunction. Many of these products are said to be "all natural" alternatives to prescription drugs. That might make y...
More Health Care and Patient Safety News
Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety Launches New Patient Safety Practices Online Resource
The Joint commission International Center for Patient Safety announced the launch of a new “in-development” Patient Safety Practices resource on the Center’s website. This beta version of the new online database offers a rich collection of practices and interventions for preventing adverse events while also soliciting user suggestions for enhancing the content and funtionality of the website.
Patient Safety Practices: An online Resource for Improving Patient Safety is available at www.jcipatientsafety.org/psp
FAQs for the 2006 National Safety Goals
Questions about the applicability of the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) and associated requirements.
JCAHO 2007 National Patient Safety Goals Implementation Expectations
Implementation expectations have been added to each requirement and appear in the same format as elements of performance (EPs) in standards. In addition, rationales have been added to some of the requirements. Organizations providing care relevant to these goals are responsible for implementing the applicable requirements or effective alternatives. Compliance with these requirements is assessed throughout the accreditation cycle, through on-site surveys, and the Periodic Performance Review (PPR).
Universal Protocol
Frequently Asked Questions about the Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery
Could You Be Having Surgery in 2006? Be Ready to Communicate About Your Anesthesia
In a typical year, more than 40 million surgical procedures are performed in U.S. hospitals. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) wants to remind patients who are facing surgery and other invasive procedures to communicate with their anesthesiologist about their anesthesia.
Health Care Risk Management Articles
Improving Surgical Site Infections Tracking
Lessons from a hospital’s two-year surveillance study could simplify the job of monitoring and documenting your post-op infection rates.
Besides the fact that most SSIs surface only after patients are long gone from your facility, surgical site infections in ambulatory surgery patients haven’t been extensively studied. The reason is simple: Traditional surveillance methods don’t let us comprehensively detect surgical site infections in ambulatory surgery. You can probably guess why.
Inside Local Anesthesia
Understanding the intricacies of dosing and side effects can help make administration safer.
Though surgical administrators often don’t deal directly with the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of local anesthetics, it wouldn’t hurt to gain an understanding of these complexities from an anesthesia provider’s perspective. Doing so will give you the ability to discuss with your providers the way local anesthesia is used in your facility and will help you set standards of care, enhancing safety.
Improving Cataract Procedures
How one surgery center benchmarked its way to improved cataract procedures.
You manage your employees, your case costs and your procedure times, and you’re not careless. Your facility turns a profit. Why compare it to other facilities? The accrediting agencies require you to, for one thing. But also, patients deserve to be treated, and staff members deserve to work, where people are striving for excellence. Competition breeds excellence, and numbers don’t lie. Benchmarking is essential.
Preventable Errors
How four wrong-site surgeries could have been avoided.
In patient safety and risk management circles, wrong-site surgery is considered one of the “never events.” Healthcare industry observers estimate, however, that as many as 4,000 wrong-site, wrong-patient or wrong-procedure incidents occur each year, not to mention an incalculable number of near-misses. Four examples of wrong-site surgeries, adapted from actual incidents, are described below. After each scenario, experts offer their views on what went wrong and what would have been the right thing to do.