UW Hospital among top performers for safety
As a new report identifies preventable medical errors as a leading cause of patient injury and death in the United States, UW Hospital and Clinics has taken several steps forward in the creation of a culture of patient safety.
According to survey results compiled by The Leapfrog Group, a national consortium of more than 150 public and private organizations that provide health care, UW Hospital and Clinics recently landed in the top performance quartile in several key areas of patient safety.
On an annual basis, member organizations in The Leapfrog Group submit data as part of a progress report that measures their commitment to installing key patient safety initiatives. Based on a set of practices endorsed by the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Safe Practices for Better Healthcare: A Consensus Report, the group lists 27 key safety indexes, covering topics such as computerized provider order entry, intensive care physician staffing and preventing surgical infections.
However, to be included among the top performers in the survey, a health-care organization must score well in four particular categories:
- Creating a culture of safety
- Hiring and retention of quality staff
- Effective communication of medical information
- Safe use of anticoagulation medicine
In the 2004 survey, UW Hospital and Clinics demonstrated significant progress in each of the four key categories.
“Patient safety and clinical outcomes are the ultimate goal of any quality hospital,” says Dr. Carl Getto, senior vice president of medical affairs for UW Hospital and Clinics. “Measurement surveys like Leapfrog tell us we’re heading in a positive direction.”
The Leapfrog Group’s survey rankings arrive at an opportune time for patients looking to make smart, safe health-care decisions. Last week, a review of Medicare records by a Denver organization suggested that preventable medical errors was the third-largest killer of patients in U.S. hospitals, second only to cancer and heart disease.