She says many staffers
appreciate the new process:
"Everyone knows what to do,
which makes things less con-
fusing for them every time
they get a scope. To initiate the
process, we had a lot of reedu-
cation to do for staff. It was a
little bit of a challenge for
some of them giving up con-
trol. But the process had
proven over time to be reli-
able, which has brought pretty
much everybody on board.
"Across our nation, there is
still great work to be done in
addressing the multitude of
gaps known to exist surround-
ing flexible endoscope utilization and cleaning," says Ms. Betti.
One thing's for sure: Baystate Medical Center has done its part to
improve its practices in order to protect patients from harm.
OSM
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 9
• SIMPLY RED Dirty scopes are placed in containers with red clips
and red biohazard stickers on the outside, and a timer button is
attached on the lid.
Kathleen
Roy/Michael
Gudejko,
Baystate
Medical
Center
• Safe starts. Patient safety for Centinela Valley Endoscopy Center
in Inglewood, Calif., begins at reception: The patient signs in on a
label, which a staffer immediately removes for HIPPA purposes. If
there's a similar or soundalike patient last name that day, a color-
coded "Name Alert" on the schedule informs staff; the patient's
HONORABLE MENTIONS
More Innovative Patient Safety Ideas