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Related Experiment Videos

Improving medication safety across a multihospital system.

K Farbstein1, J Clough

  • 1Melior Consulting Group, 166 Lindbergh Ave, Needham, MA 02494-1526, USA. kenfarb@melior.ma.ultranet.com

The Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement
|March 13, 2001
PubMed
Summary

CareGroup significantly improved medication safety by tenfold through implementing 16 best practices. This project focused on manual improvements and collaborative strategies to reduce adverse drug events across six hospitals.

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Erratum.

Drug discovery today·2001

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare Quality Improvement
  • Patient Safety
  • Medication Management

Background:

  • Identified 16 best practices to reduce adverse drug events by leading organizations.
  • CareGroup, a network of six hospitals, rapidly increased routine use of these practices tenfold within 18 months.
  • Initial focus on manual improvements feasible within a year, with a 4-year strategy for broader adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To implement and assess the impact of 16 best practices for reducing adverse drug events.
  • To foster a collaborative environment for sharing and implementing medication safety improvements.
  • To lay the groundwork for future technological advancements in medication management.

Main Methods:

  • Focused on manual, feasible improvements within the first year.

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  • Employed a 4-year strategy involving local results, publicity, and training on plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles.
  • Utilized monthly task force meetings for results presentation and assignment distribution.

    • Main Results:

    • Achieved a tenfold increase in the routine use of best practices within 21 months (from 6 to 60).
    • Successfully implemented projects reducing anticoagulation time, lookalike/soundalike errors, and improving patient-controlled analgesia safety.
    • Addressed medication incidents, patient education, and pharmacy dispensing backlogs.

    Conclusions:

    • Leadership, data use, and rapid implementation were key success factors.
    • Challenges remain in objective measurement, clinician involvement (especially physicians), and complete spread of interventions.
    • Future efforts will focus on automation, technology, and enhanced reporting for greater medication safety impact.