I
n the never-end-
ing quest to
keep your
patients safe, all
allies are wel-
come, be they new
products, new tech-
niques or new ways
of thinking about
safety. We spoke to
surgical facility lead-
ers about their most innovative ideas to enhance patient safety.
Feel free to borrow what's worked for them.
1. Medication errors
Medication errors can be a costly and deadly mistake — and one
that's largely preventable, says Steven G. Vitcov, MD, medical
director of the Presidio Surgery Center in San Francisco, Calif. To
prevent mix-ups with look-alike, sound-alike medications, his cen-
ter purchases pre-filled, pre-packaged versions of the most com-
monly confused drugs from compounding pharmacies.
"Sometimes you get drugs that are in vials that look identical," he
says. "There have been a lot of incidents reported across the country
of doctors grabbing a vial and giving it to the wrong patient or at the
9 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 6
First, Do No Harm
Practical steps you can take today to keep
your patients out of harm's way.
Kendal Gapinski | Associate Editor
• MEDICATION MADNESS Look-alike drugs can easily lead to a mix-up.
