With the permission of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is pleased to release the AAMI video on how to keep patients and their families safe, “Only Continuous Electronic Monitoring Can Ensure Patients Receiving Opioids Are Safe.”
Tag: national coalition to promote continuous monitoring of patients on opioids
Are Patients Receiving Opioids Safer Today Than 6 Years Ago?
Six years ago on July 27, 2011, I posted the first article on a free WordPress blog for the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety. It was titled “Is it possible to survive 96-minutes without a heart beat?”. Howard Snitzer, a man who suffered a heart attack survived after two volunteer paramedics responded and began a 96-minute CPR marathon. The ordeal involved 20 others, who took turns pumping his chest. This life-saving feat was only possible with the use of capnography readings, which told the volunteer paramedics that Howard was still alive and that they needed to continue their efforts.
Little would I know that that article would lead to an invitation by the University of Notre Dame and the beginnings of a 6-year friendship with the parents of Amanda Abbiehl. Amanda was admitted to hospital for “severe strep throat.” Continue reading “Are Patients Receiving Opioids Safer Today Than 6 Years Ago?”
National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety and National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids Recognized for Contribution to Patient Safety
The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is pleased to announce that the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) has bestowed a prestigious national gold award on the AAMI Foundation for its patient safety initiatives, specifically the contributions of its National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety and National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids.
PPAHS is a proud member of the National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety and the National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids. Continue reading “National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety and National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids Recognized for Contribution to Patient Safety”
Hypoxemia in the PACU: Most Episodes Occur After 30 Minutes from Admission
By Sean Power, Community Manager, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety
Is reliance on pulse oximetry to detect hypoxemia related to opioid-induced respiratory depression the best practice to identify patients at risk?
Toby N Weingarten, MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, raises this question by calling attention to an analysis by Epstein et. al.,[1] which found that, contrary to expectations, most episodes of hypoxemia—abnormally low concentrations of oxygen in the blood—take place after 30 minutes from admission to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). He notes that the administration of opioids was greater in patients who experienced hypoxemia than those who did not.
Continue reading “Hypoxemia in the PACU: Most Episodes Occur After 30 Minutes from Admission”
Patient Safety and Health Care Newsletter – August 2015
5 Key Patient Safety Achievements!
On July 27, 2015, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) turned four years old.
Turning four years old made us look back and see what we’ve done. These 5 Key Patient Safety Achievements stand out! Continue reading “Patient Safety and Health Care Newsletter – August 2015”
Computer Decision Support Alerts Help Identify Patients with Previously Diagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Say Researchers
By Sean Power (Community Manager, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Patients are admitted to some hospitals with an unreported previous diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
That might be about to change thanks to computer decision support alerts, according to R. Scott Evans, PhD, and a team of researchers at Intermountain Medical Center, a 456-bed teaching hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Continue reading “Computer Decision Support Alerts Help Identify Patients with Previously Diagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Say Researchers”
‘On April 17, 2003, I Died’ – The Case for Continuous Patient Monitoring
In this thoughtful article published in Forbes, Robert J. Szczerba discusses what happened to Matt Whitman on April 7, 2003, the need for continuous electronic monitoring of all patients receiving opioids, and what the National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids is doing to improve health outcomes and patient safety. Continue reading “‘On April 17, 2003, I Died’ – The Case for Continuous Patient Monitoring”
Podcast on Continuous Electronic Monitoring
In this podcast AAMI Foundation’s Healthcare Technology Safety Institute, Frank Overdyk, MD, professor of anesthesiology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and executive director for research at North American Partners in Anesthesia, and Tim Vanderveen, vice president of CareFusion’s Center for Safety and Clinical Excellence, make the case for continuous electronic monitoring and address the challenges stakeholders face in trying to bring about this change. Continue reading “Podcast on Continuous Electronic Monitoring”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Feb 20, 2015)
There are great benefits to continuously monitoring patients. As members of the National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids, we admit that we have our biases.
However, two “must reads” support our position on continuous monitoring. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Feb 20, 2015)”
Two Practices to Adopt After Pediatric Opioid Trial Halted
By Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
With more than 500,000 pediatric tonsillectomies performed each year in the United States, removal of tonsils is one of the most common surgeries performed on children. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, tonsillectomy is performed 20 percent for infection and 80 percent for obstructive sleep apnea. Continue reading “Two Practices to Adopt After Pediatric Opioid Trial Halted”