2,000 mls of blood, and she'll be fine. Do we anticipate blood loss?"
Surgical facilities need to ask specific safety questions, says Dr.
Wahr. How often are your anesthesia providers washing their hands?
Is your OR team drifting through the items on the safety checklist or
are they really engaged? You should audit these processes just like
you audit your infection rates.
"We need to really understand that the checklist means the same
5 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9
To help you decide where to focus your patient safety efforts,
ECRI Institute has compiled the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns
for Health- care Organizations for 2018 (osmag.net/xDN9xK).
1. Diagnostic errors
2. Opioid safety across the continuum of care
3. Internal care coordination
4. Workarounds
5. Incorporating health IT into patient safety programs
6. Management of behavioral health needs in acute care settings
7. All-hazards emergency preparedness
8. Device cleaning, disinfection and sterilization
9. Patient engagement and health literacy
10. Leadership engagement in patient safety
"The list does not necessarily represent the issues that occur
most frequently or are most severe," says ECRI. "Rather, this list
identifies concerns that might be high priorities for other rea-
sons, such as new risks, existing concerns that are changing
because of new technology or care delivery models, and persist-
ent issues that need focused attention."
— Matthew Nojiri
Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns
SAFETY FIRST
