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Regional Medication Safety Program Final Report
Last Updated: 1/4/2005
Philadelphia—A new report issued by the Healthcare Improvement Foundation (HCIF) on the Regional Medication Safety Program for Hospitals (RMSPH) finds participating hospitals had an aggregate improvement of 22% in meeting the program’s patient safety goals. The RMSPH is an innovative program launched in 2001 to advance medication safety in 65 Philadelphia-area hospitals through the systematic implementation of 16 Action Goals related to quality improvement and patient safety. The RMSPH educational materials and tools, which are now used in 48 U.S. states and 8 countries, were developed by HCIF, an affiliate of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (DVHC), along with ECRI and the Institute for Safety Medication Practices (ISMP), two nonprofit agencies widely recognized for their patient safety work. “This report demonstrates that patient safety and quality improved at all hospitals in the region. While hospitals devote enormous resources to assuring the highest quality and safest patient care, the RMSPH has provided tools to supplement those efforts as well as created a collaborative model for the sharing of best practices,” explains DVHC President Andrew Wigglesworth. The RSMPH launched at all hospitals in the five-county region has received national recognition in the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization’s (JCAHO) publication Joint Commission Benchmark. It was also featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association as a medication safety model. Wigglesworth noted that national studies suggest that implementation of “best practices” in health care can take as long as 8 years from inception to widespread application in the delivery system. “This type of regional effort helps to ensure that innovations are implemented in an accelerated manner across all hospitals, more quickly than institutions working in isolation,” Wigglesworth said. The program’s results have been published in a monograph, “Measuring the Success of the Regional Medication Safety Program for Hospitals,” In it, regional aggregate improvement for each of the 16 Action Goals were measured comparing the results of the June 2004 follow-up survey to the August 2001 baseline survey. Both the baseline and follow-up surveys experienced a very high response rate in terms of hospitals’ participation with response rates at 92% and 91%, respectively. Participation involved hospital staff in 18 different job functions, from executive to frontline clinical staff. More than 2,400 individual survey responses were included in the analysis. The 16 safety goals set an ambitious agenda for strengthening patient safety and established benchmarks in four major areas addressing patient safety aspects of: institutional culture, infrastructure, clinical practice, and technology. Initiation of the program at the individual hospitals required participation of leadership teams that included: Trustees, administration, medical staff and a cross section of hospital patient caregivers. To foster a competitive environment for safety innovation, DVHC created the Annual Medication Safety Award, presented at its annual meeting, as an additional opportunity for the promotion of best practices in patient safety. More than 65 innovative projects by area hospitals have been submitted for judging in the award contest. All submissions are shared with the other participating hospitals for possible implementation. Positive results of the efforts by the RMSPH were noted by Jeffrey C. Lerner, Ph.D., ECRI President and Chief Executive Officer. “ECRI is pleased with the commitment of hospitals to cooperate. When individual institutions band together to achieve common goals, they raise the standard of safety for the whole region so that all patients benefit,” Lerner said. Michael R. Cohen, President of ISMP, a nonprofit medication safety organization, agreed and noted, “The success of this program is an indication of the deep commitment of the hospitals in the Delaware Valley to strengthening medication safety.” Both Lerner and Cohen noted that large scale collaboratives involving multiple competing hospitals and health systems are very rare and that the Delaware Valley is a national leader in confronting the issue of medication safety head-on with both the commitment of leadership and resources. To assist the hospitals in obtaining the Action Goals, the RMSPH provided a wide array of educational tools, including a “how-to” manual, a computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) guide, ten safe practices campaign posters, and four medication safety videos. An important component was inclusion and active participation of patients and families via the patient pledge and safety video. In addition, the RMSPH provided train-the-trainer sessions, educational seminars and workshops, on-site safety reviews and customized action plans for each participating hospital. The RMSPH tools are described in detail at www.ecri.org/medicationsafety. The RMSPH was funded in part by an educational grant from Independence Blue Cross, in addition to funding from participating hospitals and several other sources. To view or download a PDF of the monograph, “Measuring the Success of the Regional Medication Safety Program for Hospitals,” or for further information on the Medication Safety Program for Hospitals, visit www.dvhc.org/safety/program/ - www.ecri.org/medicationsafety - or www.ismp.org. The Health Care Improvement Foundation (www.dvhc.org/hcif ), is a nonprofit foundation and a strategic affiliate of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council. Its mission is to support innovative efforts to improve health services as well as enhance public trust and confidence in the region’s healthcare delivery system through the promotion of best practices in community health and patient safety in the Delaware Valley. The Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (www.dvhc.org) is a membership association representing more than 150 healthcare organizations in Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware. Its mission is to assist member organizations to improve the health status of their communities and to exercise leadership in the appropriate restructuring of the regional healthcare delivery system through advocacy, information, and education in the public interest. ECRI (www.ecri.org) is an independent, nonprofit health services research agency that focuses on improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. It is widely recognized as one of the world’s most trusted organizations for unbiased, reliable information on healthcare technology, healthcare risk and quality management, and healthcare environmental management. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (www.ismp.org) is a nonprofit organization that is well known as an educational resource for the prevention of medication errors. ISMP works with practitioners, regulatory agencies, healthcare institutions, and the pharmaceutical industry, to provide education about adverse drug events and their prevention.
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