The ABCs of Patient Safety

I-PASS, which the group at BCH modeled after SBAR, might reduce a key MPL risk identified by the IOM.

Perhaps only the United States military is more acronymistic than health care, and much that is spoken and written about patient safety employs an alphabetic code that is not always easy to decipher. A scan of the CRICO website, and others that serve as key resources for clinicians and patient safety leaders, reaps a bushel of terms that might not be as simple as ABC. Each of the links below opens up an opportunity to decode a unique niche in the realm of patient safety.

• ACO Accountable care organizations
• AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• AMC PSO AMC PSO home page
• ANCR Alert Notification of Critical Radiology Results
• APC Advanced Practice Clinicians
• ASHRM American Society of Healthcare Risk Management
• CBS Comparative Benchmarking Report
• CDST Clinical Decision Support Tool
• CME Continuing Medical Education
• CRICO Controlled Risk Insurance Company
• CRIT Comparative Risk Intelligence Tool
• DA&O Disclosure Apology & Offer
• IHI Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• IOM Institute of Medicine
• I-Pass Illness severity; Patient summary; Action items; Situation awareness and contingency planning; Synthesis by receiver
• MITSS Medically Induced Trauma Support Services
• MPL Medical Professional Liability
• NPDB National Practitioner Data Bank
• NPSF National Patient Safety Foundation
• NQF National Quality Forum
• OPE Office Practice Evaluation
• PSDA Plan Do Study Act
• RAP Risk Appraisal and Planning Process
• RCA Root Cause Analysis
• SBAR Situation Background Assessment Recommendation
• SRE Serious Reportable Event
• WTGW When Things Go Wrong

Of course, I can’t list them all, and maybe left out some you commonly encounter. If so, let me know ASAP.

Additional Material

The I-PASS Handoff Process: High Reliability Communication for Better Patient Handoffs and Safer Care