Improving Patient Safety Through Provider Communication

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s recent edition of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2012 User Comparative Database Report indicates that “only 45 percent of hospital staff have positive perceptions of handoffs and transitions across hospital units.” Breakdowns in communication among healthcare providers can significantly impact patient safety, but regardless of the healthcare setting, a variety of tools and resources are available to help professionals improve handoffs and team communication.

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Two Oregon Hospitals Take Unique Steps to Improve Communication

Rogue Valley Medical Center (RVMC) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) are using two different approaches to successfully improve provider communication. RVMC has created and launched a robust bedside handoff program and OHSU is using tools and ideas from the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to develop a culture change workshop series.

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Community Pharmacist-Physician Teamwork May Prevent Falls

A recent North Carolina study examined if community pharmacists could impact fall risk in older adults residing in the community and concluded that coordination of care between community pharmacists and prescribers needs to be improved to benefit from the potential effects of medication management on falls prevention. 

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Nursing Homes Use Tool to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations

INTERACT

Studies conducted in Georgia nursing homes helped to develop and test clinical practice tools for reducing potentially avoidable hospitalizations. One of the key INTERACT Tools is SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation), which can provide a standardized approach for sharing information among healthcare professionals in a variety of healthcare settings, including nursing homes.

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What's New at the Commission

The Commission recently published the Oregon ASC Model Infection Prevention & Control Toolkit for use by Oregon’s ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The toolkit provides guidance on the development and implementation of infection prevention programs that meet the infection control standards outlined in Medicare’s Conditions of Coverage. The toolkit contains sample policies and procedures, survey tools, competency checklists, links to resources, slide sets on key infection prevention topics, and videos from a toolkit training workshop. Use of the tools will improve the ability of ASCs to implement quality improvement projects, reduce infection risks, and better protect patients. Although the tools were designed for ASCs, most can be adapted for use in other practice settings such as dialysis centers, hospitals, medical clinics, and nursing homes.

The idea for the toolkit originated in 2009 when representatives from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, the Oregon Health Authority’s Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement section, and the Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Center Association began meeting to discuss ways to ensure Oregon’s ASCs were providing safe infection prevention practices. As a result of these discussions, the Oregon Patient Safety Commission received grant funding to create the toolkit for a model infection prevention program that could be adapted by any Oregon ASC.

The Commission is currently offering infection prevention training workshops throughout the state. Upcoming trainings on the Oregon ASC Model Infection Prevention & Control Toolkit are being held in Bend (March 3) and Medford (March 4). The Commission will soon be expanding a similar training into other healthcare settings.

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