Patient safety is a priority for our hospitals. In April 2000, Baptist Memorial Health Care
established a patient safety and quality council comprising representatives from multiple
health care disciplines, including nursing, pharmacy, human resources, finance, communications
and quality. Council members research best practices, regulatory standards and
evidence-based procedures; select the most-effective; then implement these in the
Baptist Memorial Health Care system, creating standardized policies and procedures
for Baptist’s 14 hospitals.
The council’s success has garnered national and regional attention from health care quality
and safety organizations, including VHA Inc., the American Organization of Nursing
Executives, the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, the American Society of
Health Care Risk Managers, the Alabama Hospital Association, the Tennessee Society of
Hospital Pharmacists, Riskmaster, Information Week, Modern Healthcare and Abbott
Pharmaceuticals.
Here are a few of the practices Baptist has put into place.
Bundles
Bundles, a grouping of proven best practices, help ensure all patients receive the same high level of quality care. For example, the "falls bundle" comprises the following steps:
- Turn on the light in the bathroom.
- Keep the door to the hallway open.
- Help patients to the bathroom during assessments.
- Post "Do not get up without assistance" signs.
- Check bed alarms with each assessment.
Other "bundles" cover care regarding urinary tract infections, using central lines and using ventilators. In fact, Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto’s success in preventing ventilator associated pneumonia through the use of ventilator bundles was detailed in a Journal of the American Medical Association study on medical errors published in May 2005. As a result, Baptist DeSoto was featured in the national news media on May 18 in both a front-page story in USA Today and a story that aired on the CBS Evening News related to the JAMA study.
Medical Response Team (MRT)
Medical response teams (MRT) facilitate early intervention and stabilization to prevent clinical
deterioration or arrest in patients. Any member of a hospital’s staff can call the MRT
using suggested triggers such as an acute change in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, respiratory
rate, O² saturation or level of consciousness. The MRTs also are designed to help staff members develop critical thinking skills and confidence before critical events happen.
In addition, Baptist is committed to meeting the patient safety goals set by the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and, as a system, has
taken a number of progressive steps to:
- Improve the accuracy of patient identification
- Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers
- Improve the safety of medication use
- Improve the safety of using infusion pumps
- Reduce the risk of health care associated infections
- Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care
- Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls
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