To help hospitals struggling to meet the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal on Clinical Alarms, ECRI Institute has begun offering on-site alarm readiness and patient safety evaluations.
Under the Joint Commission's patient safety goal hospitals will be expected to develop and implement specific clinical alarm safety policies and procedures. Educating those within the organization on alarm system management is also required under the goal.
ECRI Institute alarm safety evaluations consist of experts visiting and:
- Conducting interviews with key administrative and clinical staff — including the CNO and CMO — as well as directors or managers critical care, cardiac telemetry, and nursing departments
- Assessing the leaderships' success at making alarm safety a top priority; and
- Reviewing progress towards establishing alarm policies and procedures, and educating staff.
After the on-site review, the experts will offer hospitals the summary of their findings and unbiased recommendations on what steps to take next.
Rob Maliff, director of applied solutions at ECRI Institute, reminds hospitals that the Joint Commission's deadline for the National Patient Safety Goal on Clinical alarms is Jan. 1, 2016.
"Hospitals should be getting nervous, because eight months is barely enough time to meet these requirements, especially if they have yet to address the gaps in their alarm practices," said Mr. Maliff.
To read more about the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal on Clinical Alarms, click here.
More articles on clinical alarms:
ECRI Institute: 10 patient safety concerns for healthcare organizations
Spok: Avoiding alarm fatigue essential to patient care
How Abbott Northwestern is reducing alarm fatigue to enhance patient safety