News Releases
November 15, 2004
WGHS receives Quality and Patient Safety
award
Last week
at the Partnership for Health and Accountability's Patient Safety
Summit held in Atlanta, West Georgia Health System received a
second place Quality and Patient Safety Award in the Systems category.
This award recognizes health care organizations for achievement
in reducing the risk of medical errors and improving patient safety
and medical outcomes. Emory Healthcare was the first place
award winner in this category
West
Georgia Health System received this recognition for a four-pronged
program implemented by the health system's interdisciplinary Medication
Administration Team. The team, which consists of pharmacists,
administrative staff, nurses and physicians representing many
clinical areas of the health system , focuses
its performance improvement efforts on avoiding medication errors.
Over
the past four years, the Medical Administration Team has built
a program that has created a non-punitive policy for error reporting,
a formal method of reporting errors, a method of educating the
staff regarding medication error prevention and an incentive for
reporting potential errors as a means to prevent future errors.
The
first step toward avoiding medication errors was to develop a
non-punitive policy for reporting errors. ìWe found that one of
the problems with reporting errors was that people thought they
would be punished somehow for reporting them,î Kathy McWhorter,
director of performance improvement, points out. ìOn the contrary,
when we are aware of any errors, or the potential for an error,
we are able to study the process, identify potential sources for
errors and correct them.î This policy was first implemented
in May 2002.
In conjunction
with the non-punitive reporting policy, the team developed a Medication
Error and Analysis Form, a system-wide tool used for reporting
errors that could be used to track error type, severity, and possible
causes. The team meets monthly to review errors and find effective
system-based solutions for avoiding those mistakes. Team members
identify what, why, and how errors are occurring, in order to
improve the safety of the medication use process.
The
team also launched a quarterly newsletter, Med Tips ,
to educate the health system staff on medication error prevention.
Topics include pertinent information such as dangerous drug interactions,
abbreviations to avoid in charting, upcoming educational events
and industry trends. These newsletters are mailed to each employee's
home to ensure direct communication with every WGHS staff member.
The
team also developed the Finding and Averting Medication Errors
(FAME) Award, an incentive program for reporting potential errors
as a means to prevent future errors. Each time an employee reports
a potential error, his or her name is entered into a monthly drawing
for a $25 gift certificate. The FAME Award program increases
the clinicians' awareness of potential medication errors and the
reporting of potential errors. It also focuses on avoiding actual
errors by instituting preventive measures. The Med Tips
newsletter spotlights the FAME Award winners each quarter.
ìThis
team has made great strides in improving the safety of medication
administration within our health system,î says West Georgia Health
System President/CEO Jerry Fulks. ìThey are quite deserving of
this award, and I am proud of their significant accomplishments
in improving the care that we offer our patients every day.î
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The
Partnership for Health and Accountability, formed in January 2000
and sponsored by the Georgia Hospital Association, is a unique
statewide collaborative that brings together health care providers
with community agencies and individuals to achieve healthy communities.
PHA includes representation from groups like hospitals,
physicians, state health officials, legislators and businesses.
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