Tag: Roadmap/Guide

Implementation of an Opioid Stewardship Program at an Academic Medical Center

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)

As the opioid crisis continues to affect the lives of people around the country health-systems most impacted by the crisis have taken a proactive approach in the fight. Recognizing the need for grassroots leadership to guide responsible opioid prescribing the University of Kentucky HealthCare implemented an Opioid Stewardship Program.

STEM THE TIDE: OPIOID STEWARDSHIP MEASUREMENT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

American Hospital Association (AHA)

The Guide addresses six critical elements that can support users through a process of implementing a data-driven approach to an opioid stewardship program: 1) developing a leadership strategy; 2) conducting an environmental
scan of available resources, existing efforts and available data; 3) selecting measures; 4) setting goals and developing an improvement plan to drive progress on those measures; 5) creating policies and education for care teams; and 6) providing patient education and engaging patients in shared decision-making. We believe that these elements lay the foundation for driving and measuring progress in opioid stewardship.

The Role of Nonpharmacological Approaches to Pain Management: Proceedings of a Workshop (2019)

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Pain is a leading cause of disability globally. The dramatic increase in opioid prescriptions within the past decade in the United States has contributed to the opioid epidemic the country currently faces, magnifying the need for longer term solutions to treat pain. The substantial burden of pain and the ongoing opioid crisis have attracted increased attention in medical and public policy communities, resulting in a revolution in thinking about how pain is managed. This new thinking acknowledges the complexity and biopsychosocial nature of the pain experience and the need for multifaceted pain management approaches with both pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies.

Using Data to Reduce Disparities and Improve Quality

Advancing Health Equity (AHE)

Unless specifically measured, disparities in health and healthcare can go unnoticed even as providers, health plans, and governmental organizations (hereafter referred to as healthcare organizations) seek to improve care. Stratifying quality data by patient race, ethnicity, language and other
demographic variables such as age, sex, health literacy, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic status, and geography is an important tool for uncovering and responding to healthcare disparities. This brief is organized into these three topics and recommends strategies that healthcare organizations can use to effectively organize and interpret stratified
quality data to improve health equity for their patients. It is intended for healthcare organizations and collaboratives that already have quality data stratified by one or more demographic variables. However, there are many resources on how to best collect and stratify race, ethnicity, language (R/E/L), sexual orientation, gender identity (SOGI) and other demographic data. Using stratified quality data strategically allows healthcare organizations to:

  1. Discover and prioritize differences in care, outcomes, and/or experiences across patient groups
  2. Plan Equity-Focused Care Transformations and Measure Impact
  3. Tell the story of how patients experience health care

Textbook of Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management

Authors:

  1. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  2. Department of Hygiene and Public Health Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Rome Italy
  3. The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine.
  4. Italian Network for Safety in Healthcare

Implementing safety practices in healthcare saves lives and improves the quality of care: it is therefore vital to apply good clinical practices, such as the WHO surgical checklist, to adopt the most appropriate measures for the prevention of assistance-related risks, and to identify the potential ones using tools such as reporting & learning systems.

The culture of safety in the care environment and of human factors influencing it should be developed from the beginning of medical studies and in the first years of professional practice, in order to have the maximum impact on clinicians’ and nurses’ behavior. Medical errors tend to vary with the level of proficiency and experience, and this must be taken into account in adverse events prevention. Human factors assume a decisive importance in resilient organizations, and an understanding of risk control and containment is fundamental for all medical and surgical specialties.  

This open access book offers recommendations and examples of how to improve patient safety by changing practices, introducing organizational and technological innovations, and creating effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable care systems, in order to spread the quality and patient safety culture among the new generation of healthcare professionals, and is intended for residents and young professionals in different clinical specialties.

Leading a Culture of-Safety: A Blueprint for Success

American College of Healthcare Executives and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)/National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) Lucian Leape Institute

Leading a Culture of Safety: A Blueprint for Success was developed to bridge this gap in knowledge and resources by providing chief executive officers and other health care leaders with a useful tool for assessing and advancing their organization’s culture of safety. This guide can be used to help determine the current state of an organization’s journey, inform dialogue with the board and leadership team, and help leaders set priorities.

The high-level strategies and practical tactics in the guide are divided into two levels:

  • The foundational level provides basic tactics and strategies essential for the implementation of each domain.
  • The sustaining level provides strategies for spreading and embedding a culture of safety throughout the organization.

Safer Together: A National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

Safer Together: A National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety provides clear direction that health care leaders, delivery organizations, and associations can use to make significant advances toward safer care and reduced harm across the continuum of care. This resource also includes a Self-Assessment Tool & Implementation Resource Guide. Resource also includes case examples on engaging patients and families in safety.

COVID-19 Resources for Hospitals

Patient Safety Movement

  • Activate incident command systems.
  • Ensure there is an adequate supply of PPE, ventilators, and other supplies and equipment.
  • Maintain ethical standards when allocating resources.
  • Have a plan for continued surge.
  • Ensure safe staffing levels.
  • Routinely analyze your facility’s risk.
  • Embrace continuous improvement and a culture of safety.
  • Establish safe discharge practices.
  • Ensure that proper cleaning protocols are implemented.
  • Continuously involve patients, family members, and members of the general public in conversations around improvement. 
  • Create a plan to resume normal operations.
  • Take care of your people, so they can better care for patients.

Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Hospital Quality and Safety

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Research shows that when patients are engaged in their health care, it can lead to measurable improvements in safety and quality.  To promote stronger engagement, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed a guide to help patients, families, and health professionals work together as partners to promote improvements in care. This guide focuses on four primary strategies for promoting patient/family engagement in hospital safety and quality of care:

  • Encourage patients and family members to participate as advisors.
  • Promote better communication among patients, family members, and health care professionals from the point of admission.
  • Implement safe continuity of care by keeping the patient and family informed through nurse bedside change-of-shift reports.
  • Engage patients and families in discharge planning throughout the hospital stay.