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N E V E R
E V E N T S
THE MINNESOTA TIME OUT
Every Patient, Every Procedure, Every Time
POSITIVE RESULT Minnesota's push to get ORs to stop for time outs before all procedures resulted in a 20% drop in wrong events.
Hospitals and ASCs have made progress on implementing robust time-out processes, but room for improvement remains: Many wrong site events in 2011 were related to inconsistencies or lack of verification at various points in the scheduling process, or to a lack of policy for site-marking or time out in certain areas of facilities.
To that end, in early 2011, the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Hospital Association, MMIC (a state malpractice carrier) and the state's Medical Group Management Association joined to form the Minnesota Safety Surgery Coalition. Its first goal is to hardwire the time-out process anywhere procedures are being performed, statewide. Called the Minnesota Time Out, it focuses on independent verification by the surgeon and the conducting of effective site marking — every time, for every patient and every procedure or surgery.
Results from 2011 data show that the Minnesota Safe Surgery Coalition's work may be starting to come to fruition. First, more facilities report they're following the steps of the Minnesota Time Out both in and outside of the operating room. Second, in the last reporting year, which ended in October 2011, there were 24 wrong events — a 20+% drop from the reporting year that ended in October 2010, and the lowest point since 2007.
— Diane Rydrych, MA, and Rachel Jokela