Standards designed by the health care industry and member safety groups hold both health care professionals and members accountable.
It is a patient’s right to have understandable instructions, legible prescriptions and clear explanations. Additionally, patients are responsible for being completely honest and open about their symptoms and medical and drug histories.
Provide each patient with a written treatment plan on when and how the test results will be communicated, instructions for medication and other action the patient must take. When you have a patient who is in the hospital, visit your patient, confirm the treatment plan and talk to other health care professionals who are caring for your patient.
Implement a “read back” process for taking verbal or telephone orders also for receiving critical test results.
Make sure the prescriptions you write are legible. Write both the brand name and generic name on the prescription. Give your patient verbal and written information about how to use the drug, and let them know about any drug interactions and side effects.
Designate an area in your office for charts requiring updated information. Standardized exam room set-ups reduce the risk of a caregiver picking up the wrong instrument or supply. Mark sound-alike and look-alike packages with stickers and store them separately from each other. This will prevent clinicians from making avoidable mix-ups.
Check out the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Checkpoint websites for current, reliable information about medical clinics and hospitals located throughout Wisconsin.
The IHI Triple Aim is a framework developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement that describes an approach to optimizing health system performance where new designs must be developed to simultaneously pursue three dimensions, called the “Triple Aim.”
