Hospitals Face New JCAHO Patient Safety Standards on July 1

Media Contact: Charlene Hill Media Relations Manager 630.792.5175 E-mail: chill@jcaho.org (Oakbrook Terrace, IL - June 28, 2001) New patient safety standards that go into effect on July 1 will require hospitals to initiate specific efforts to prevent medical errors and to tell patients when they have been harmed during their treatment.

The new rules from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, (JCAHO), the not-for-profit safety and quality evaluator of nearly 5,000 hospitals, represent a major milestone in the nation's continuing pursuit of improvements in patient safety. A 1999 Institute of Medicine report estimates that medical errors kill between 44,000 and 98,000 hospital patients annually.

"Health care executive, physician, and nursing leaders must radically change their thinking about medical mistakes," says Dennis O'Leary, M.D., president, JCAHO. "We need to create a culture of safety in hospitals and other health care organizations, in which errors are openly discussed and studied so that solutions can be found and put in place. These new standards are intended to do just that."

The new standards underscore the importance of strong organization leadership in building a culture of safety. Such a culture should strongly encourage the internal reporting of medical errors, and actively engage clinicians and other staff in the design of remedial steps to prevent future occurrences of these errors. The additional emphasis on effective communication, appropriate training, and teamwork found in the standards language draw heavily upon lessons learned in both the aviation and health care industries.

A second major focus of the new standards is on the prevention of medical errors through the prospective analysis and re-design of vulnerable patient care systems (e.g. the ordering, preparation and dispensing of medications). Potentially vulnerable systems can readily be identified through relevant national databases such as JCAHO's Sentinel Event Database or through the hospital's own risk management experience.

Finally, the standards make clear the hospital's responsibility to tell a patient if he or she has been harmed by the care provided.

JCAHO's accreditation process has long placed a high priority on patient safety. "However, these standards will clearly raise the bar," says O'Leary.

When the new standards are implemented, over 50 percent of all of JCAHO's hospital standards will relate directly to patient safety.

The new standards are based both on JCAHO's own six-year experience in overseeing the management of sentinel (adverse) events in accredited organizations, and on the opinions of a special panel that included patient safety experts as well as leaders from government, hospitals, insurance companies, universities, and consumer advocacy groups. Broad field input was also solicited in finalizing the standards.

JCAHO has been setting the standards for quality in health care for 50 years. Similar standards also are being developed for the nearly 14,000 JCAHO-accredited nursing homes, behavioral health facilities, outpatient clinics, laboratories, managed care organizations and home health agencies.

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"What's New On Our Website?"
by
Kelly Sparks-Evans, RN, BSN, CWOCN
PCR Communications Coordinator
kelly@wocnursing.com

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.".....Oliver Wendell Holmes

Our web site is growing and ever changing. It is our sincere hope that you, as a member of PCR, will recognize your web site as a means of communication, education, and obtaining information.

In an effort to assist you, I have outlined each of the "pages" to help you to navigate through the site.

On the "About PCR" page, you will find all you ever wanted to know about the Operational/Organizational information on the PCR, but were afraid to ask. Check it out! (You may be surprised at how organized we really are).

The "Current News" page is designed to keep you updated on the most current news and events. This is where you will find the upcoming meetings, Presidents message, and much more.

The "News Archive" takes you back to news of the past.

You must check out the "Awards" page. This is where you will find out about many awards that you may not have even been aware of. We all need to look closely at this page so that we can nominate our peers for awards well deserved. If you have any questions regarding the awards or how to nominate, feel free to contact our Public Relations Coordinator, Christine Herb, RN, CETN. at ETNGem@aol.com.

On the "Officers" page, you will find information on your elected Board of Directors of the PCR and other important people. We would love to have your feedback regarding PCR, governmental/legislature changes, your practices, etc. We are here to help and serve your needs as a membership group. The BOD's are volunteers and we put a lot of time and effort into making this a very professional and informative regional organization. Please feel free to contact any one of us with your questions or concerns.

The "Members" page is a new and exciting feature. We will list your Professional Strengths. We, the BOD, feel that this will help to facilitate networking and allow us to access each other as resources. I urge you to please join in and let me know what your professional strengths are so we can add them to the site. While you are browsing this page, please update your name and e-mail information. If you have questions regarding membership, please feel free to contact our Membership Coordinator Ann T. Wright, RN, MSN, CWOCN, CNS at e-mail ann.wright@avhospital.org or atw@qnet.com

The "Contact Us" page is another way that you can contact us. When a message is received, either I will answer, forward it on to another board member who can better answer it, or find out the answer for you. This is also a great way to give us all your feedback.

There are many more links on the "Links" page. If you have any special sites, or any frequently used favorite sites that you would like PCR to have a link to, please go to "Contact Us" and let me know so it can be added.

"Peer Group Page". Here you will find the contact e-mails for most of our PCR Peer Groups. Peer Group is another name for the ET Support Groups. You will also find the Peer Group News on that page. This is your web site, and your place to let us all know of your individual accomplishments, your group meeting times and places, and your networking needs. Please feel free to contact me at kelly@wocnursing.com and let me know your updated information or news from your group.

Our newest page will be called "Mentor Program". It is currently under construction but will be visible soon. Here you will be able to work directly with the Vice President, Gayle Clayton, on a mentor relationship. Please see the news article on the Current News page regarding our exciting new Mentor Program.

There will be many changes and additions to the web site in the future so be sure to explore often to get the full benefit of our Wonderful Website, www.pcr.org.