Eliminating Preventable Harm

In the U.S., 2.9% of individuals who enter a hospital are actually harmed by the medical care they receive.  Reducing these preventable iatrogenic injuries is one of the goals of any hospital administrator.  Paul Levy of Running a Hospital lists 3 goals to achieve in the new year which will help reduce these adverse events.

1. Eliminating central line infections [Metric: The number of CLIs, as defined by the CDC. Goal = 0]
2. Adopting the IHI bundle to help avoid ventilator associated pneumonia [Metric: Percent compliance with the bundle. Goal = 100%]
3. Adopting the WHO protocol developed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Atul Gawande for surgical procedures [Metric: Percent of surgical cases in which the pre-op, time-out, post-op checklist has been followed. Goal = 100%]