Objectives
Patient Safety Planning / Objectives
Look for opportunities to make your organization safer
Be proactive and examine systems, processes, and the environment to identify potential safety issues. Consider what could go wrong so you can prevent it before it happens.
Get started
- Ask colleagues “What keeps you awake at night?”
- Share feedback from patients and families
- Have group conversations about ways to prevent harm
- Analyze the change possibilities and prioritize those most likely to help
Start small
- Consider a small change first. For example, if written instructions are sometimes unclear, start by re-writing just one set of instructions. Try it with a handful of patients, revise it, then work to improve written instructions for after-care related to another procedure.
- Collect information about what is going wrong and why. Use a flowchart tool to guide the process and help find potential areas of improvement.
- One formal methodology is Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)
Focus on a clear set of objectives
- Set measurable goals
- Rather than “increase reporting of laboratory test results,” try “over the next six months, 90% of laboratory test results will be shared with both the primary care provider and patient within 48 hours.”
- Base goals in part on previous performance, e.g. set the target number of laboratory test results a certain percentage higher than the previous year.
- Rather than “increase reporting of laboratory test results,” try “over the next six months, 90% of laboratory test results will be shared with both the primary care provider and patient within 48 hours.”
- Look to other institutions for benchmarks
- Take advantage of expert guidance from organizations that specialize in patient safety
- Depending on your setting, you could start by looking at: medication management, latex exposure, blood glucose monitoring and testing, hand hygiene, communicating laboratory test results, or patient identification.
- Review the examples of patient safety measures on the sidebar as a starting point, then determine appropriate objectives for your organization.
This page was adapted from the Betsy Lehman Center's Patient Safety Navigator. Visit the Navigator website to learn more about analyzing adverse events, communicating in the aftermath of serious harm, and reporting medical errors to state and federal agencies.