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: Warning on Proton Pump Inhibitors and Fracture Risk
FDA is cautioning healthcare professionals and patients that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may increase the risk of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. The drugs' labeling will be revised to reflect these concerns. PPIs are used to reduce gastric...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Lifeline and ReviveR AED Battery Packs Recalled
Defibtech is recalling certain battery packs used in Lifeline and ReviveR automatic external defibrillators (AED). These battery packs may cause the AED to inappropriately cancel the charge and be unable to deliver therapy. The company has received...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Update on Counterfeit Polypropylene Mesh
FDA now has more information on the counterfeiting of Bard flat polypropylene surgical mesh, commonly known as Marlex mesh. This was first reported earlier this year. The counterfeit products, which were distributed between October 21, 2008 and Octo...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Thrombosis with Off-Label Promacta Use
GlaxoSmithKline is warning healthcare professionals about the risk of thrombosis if patients with chronic liver disease are treated with Promacta (eltrombopag). Promacta is approved to treat thrombocytopenia in certain adult patients with chronic id...
Recalls and Safety Alerts: Severe Liver Injury with Orlistat (Xenical, Alli)
The labeling for the weight loss drug orlistat will include new safety information about rare cases of severe liver injury in patients taking this drug. Orlistat is sold by prescription as Xenical in 120 mg strength and over the counter as Alli in 6...
Preventing Medical Errors: Dosing Errors with Certain Oral Syringes
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently pointed out that measuring doses with certain oral syringes can be confusing for healthcare practitioners and patients, and that this can lead to overdoses. This type of syringe is pack...
Preventing Medical Errors: Reporting Adverse Events to MedWatch
An important FDA program called "MedWatch" allows health care professionals and consumers to report serious problems that they believe may be associated with the medical products they prescribe, dispense, or use. These reports, along with follow-up i...
New from FDA: Help FDA Stop ?Bad Ads?
FDA monitors the way drug companies advertise and promote prescription drugs to help assure that the information is accurate and balanced. But it is difficult for the agency to check on these activities when they take place in doctors' offices, or i...
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.