Gary
The AHRQ: National Quality Measures clearinghouse website contained several tutorial videos. A lot of them had to do with the healthcare cost and utilization project. One that stuck out as different was the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch and Patient Safety tutorial. The related videos section gave a really quick video directed toward medical professionals. They describe med watch as a reporting and digital delivery system for important safety information about drug, medical devices, and dietary supplements (FDA, 2018). It also states it serves two purposes: a place to report events and a way to receive information from the FDA. There is an easy to use reporting mechanism and an option to get updates emailed to you. This up to date information is important to care givers to ensure safe care. In addition, the easy to use reporting tool aggregates information from many sources that adds power to individual concerns.
Food and Drug Administration. (2018). MedWatch Minute for health professionals. Retrieved
from https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting
-program/medical-product-safety-educational-resources
Respond to Tina
There are many important quality measures posted on the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse website created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Prevention of adverse drug events (ADE) is the most important measure to ensure patient safety within the acute care setting. Currently, the focus is to prevent unintended harm or injury from anticoagulants, diabetic agents, and opioid analgesics (AHRQ, 2018). Adverse drug events account for 30% of all hospital adverse events and affect 2 million hospital stays annually, which prolongs the hospital stay up to 4.6 days (AHRQ, 2018). The majority of the adverse events are preventable, which would lead to decreased health care expenditures and improved patient outcomes (AHRQ, 2018). In the pediatric setting, there are measures in place to protect this vulnerable population from adverse events. All medications are weight based to prevent overdose and ensure a therapeutic dose. All oral and IV medications which are required to be drawn up in a syringe are done so in the pharmacy. These medications are then delivered to the unit with the exact amount needed with a label identifying the concentration and dose. This practice prevents unintentional preparation errors on the unit. In pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, medications are often double checked with 2 RNs prior to administration to ensure safety. These practices have decreased the amount of ADEs in pediatric facilities that I have worked for.
Reference:
AHRQ (2018). The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC). Retrieved from https://innovations.ahrq.gov/qualitytools/national-quality-measures-clearinghouse-nqmc.