The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS), an advocacy group of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, healthcare organizations and patient safety advocacy groups, recently released four essentials for patient safety. Continue reading “Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Announces Four Essentials for Safety for Patients Receiving Opioids”
Tag: PCA
Reducing Errors by More than 60 Percent: PPAHS Presents at the Northern Regional Respiratory Care Conference
by Sean Power
Last week, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety presented two cases in which health care facilities reduced PCA-related adverse drug events with continuous electronic monitoring.
Experts estimate that anywhere from 600,000 to 2,000,000 PCA errors occur each year. As Dr. Richard Dutton, Executive Director of the Anesthesia Quality Institute, states, “PCA errors certainly occur, both in programming and in delivery, but any published estimate is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.” Continue reading “Reducing Errors by More than 60 Percent: PPAHS Presents at the Northern Regional Respiratory Care Conference”
The Doctor Weighs In Highlights Benefits of Safety Checklists
Earlier today, the popular healthcare blog The Doctor Weighs In featured an article by the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety on the benefits of safety checklists. Continue reading “The Doctor Weighs In Highlights Benefits of Safety Checklists”
Memorial Hospital Makes a Promise to Amanda to Continuously Electronically Monitor Opioid Patients with Capnography
NBC-affiliate WNDU recently reported that Memorial Hospital of South Bend in Indiana has fulfilled A Promise to Amanda. Starting this month, every patient who receives opioids or sedation on every floor at Memorial Hospital will be continuously electronically monitored with capnography. Continue reading “Memorial Hospital Makes a Promise to Amanda to Continuously Electronically Monitor Opioid Patients with Capnography”
AORN Poster Presentation: Unrecognized Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression and PCA Safety Checklist
The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) recently presented a poster presentation at the 60th Congress of the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN).
This poster discussed the problem of opioid-induced respiratory depression, particularly regarding patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). As well, the presentation focused on the place of the recently released PCA Safety Checklist in addressing opioid warnings expressed by The Joint Commission in its Sentinel Event Alert of safe use of opioids in hospitals. Continue reading “AORN Poster Presentation: Unrecognized Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression and PCA Safety Checklist”
Understanding Adverse Events and Death: Root Cause Analysis of California Department of Public Health Case
(The Truax Group consults with hospitals to improve patient safety and procedures.)
PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) safety has been one of our most frequent topics. Serious incidents related to PCA continue to occur frequently. Another case with some valuable lessons learned comes from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH 2012). Continue reading “Understanding Adverse Events and Death: Root Cause Analysis of California Department of Public Health Case”
6 Steps to Improved Pain Pump Safety: New checklist can help prevent 14,000 adverse events annually
More than 56,000 adverse events and 700 patient deaths were linked to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps in reports to the Food and Drug Administration between 2005 and 2009. In fact, 1 out of 378 post-surgical patients are harmed or die from errors related to PCA pumps. Continue reading “6 Steps to Improved Pain Pump Safety: New checklist can help prevent 14,000 adverse events annually”
Third Leading Cause of Death is Preventable
Dr. Peter Pronovost (PhD, FCCM, Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Medical Director, Center for Innovation in Quality Patient) recently appeared on the Katie Couric Show on “Shocking Medical Mistakes”.
On the Show, Dr. Pronovost discussed the number of preventable deaths that occur each year in the United States: Continue reading “Third Leading Cause of Death is Preventable”
Update on CMS Proposed Quality Measure on PCA Patient Safety
We would like to thank all of those who submitted comments on the proposed quality measure being considered by CMS regarding the monitoring of patients using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps.
In the report submitted by the National Quality Forum to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the measure was not endorsed and it was decided that the measure “requires modification or further development”. More particularly, the report provides: Continue reading “Update on CMS Proposed Quality Measure on PCA Patient Safety”
Does CMS Proposed Measure for PCA Safety Go Far Enough?
by Michael Wong
(This article is reprinted with the permission of Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare (PSQH).)
This is the question that I have been asking myself ever since Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced proposed quality measures it is considering for adoption through rule making for the Medicare program. Continue reading “Does CMS Proposed Measure for PCA Safety Go Far Enough?”