Howard County general Hospital and COLA a national accrediting
organization introduce the lab safety and
performance improvement initiative.
With continues real time learning as the center piece
the partners aspire to innovate a comprehensive model for
ensuring patients safety in laboratory Medicine.
One in five Americans report that they or
a family member have experienced a medical error of some kind.
Nationally, that translates into an estimated 22.8 million
people.
Of these, 44,000 result in death.
Higher than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer,
or AIDS.
In addition to the human costs, the financial impact to $17
to $29 billion per year is staggering.
Laboratory testing and
analysis play a central In reversing this trend.
Since laboratory information contributes to approximately
70% of medical decisions,
impacting critical decisions related to heart attack,
infectious diseases, endocrine disorders, cancers and more.
The good news is that lab related error rates have been
declining for decades.
Now 1/20th of where they were 40 years ago.
And analytic process mistakes now count for
less than 10% of all mistakes.
>> Creating a culture of safety is critically important for
the care of our patients.
We spend an enormous amount of time looking at the various
processes that create the patient care experience.
And so we come together at our daily safety briefing to talk
about what happened yesterday.
To anticipate the needs of today and
to further anticipate the needs of tomorrow.
>> So many levels.
>> The impact of this relationship with COLA is
innovation in terms of new clinical processes.
It's really critical to make sure the nurses and doctors
understand why we're doing these things, and what is the impact
of their behavior on the outcome of the patient experience.
>> So we don't take care of patients in isolation anymore.
It's not the nurse's role and the physician's role and
that everybody is working in their own silos.
We all work together as a multidisciplinary team.
We have to, because everybody contributes a unique
piece of expertise to that care team.
So we have nurses, we have physicians, we have pharmacists,
we have lab techs.
All of those people are key in making sure that we coordinate
our care and we're all collectively understanding how
that contributes to the best possible patient outcome.
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>> The process can be broken down into three main areas,
first is pre-analytic.
Accuracy at this stage of the specimen gathering is key.
From ordering the correct test to skilled collection,
including the right medium and proper labeling.
To timely transportation to the lab.
Errors here account for up to 75% of lab mistakes.
And can dramatically impact our patients well being.
The Analytic phase consists of processes including hematology,
urinalysis, chemistry, and coagulation.
Since many of these actions are automated this is actually
the most error-free step of this specimens journey.
The post-analytic phase includes checking the results results,
sometimes follow-up testing to verify a suspicious finding, and
notification to re-test, either to a nurse or to the physician.
All of these steps, and the care and accuracy given to them,
determine whether patients get the proper diagnosis,
treatment and prognosis.
>> So the work that we do here in the lab can really make
the difference between life or death.
Diagnosis of the patient and
helping the physician come to what their treatment plan is,
is the most important thing that we do every day.
I tell my team that this could be their mother,
this could be their sister, that we are helping someone.
Get better to go home with their families, and
that is one of the biggest gifts that you can give.
>> COLA's mission as a company is to improve laboratory
medicine and patient care.
The initiative with the hospital is a unique opportunity to
do that.
I think there's something very special about the care that's
given at Howard County General Hospital.
So, the ability to actually innovate together,
to actually explore ways that we can have impact on patient care
was just a kind of almost a dream come true, in many ways.
>> This initiative with COLA is actually bringing one of my
visions to fruition, because I'm very excited to actually have
a position like this that's just really gonna reinforce better
quality and education in our facility.
And this lab safety officer is gonna bring us to a better
treatment plan for other patients.
>> My name is Nathan Cass.
I'm the new Laboratory Patient Safety Officer here at
Howard County General Hospital.
I'm excited to be part of this new initiative,
to work with a diverse group of people here at the hospital to
help bring safety to the patients.
I'll be creating education opportunities and
ongoing training on the unit ends in laboratory and
one of the things that I'll being doing on a daily basis,
on an hourly basis, is a lot of listening.
We've all been in the hospital or have had loved ones
in the hospital and I'm proud that I'll be part
of a process that helps improves outcomes of our patients.
>> Our intent is that not only do the right thing here in
Howard County but to create kind of the center of excellence.
And Howard County General Hospital becomes the model that
can be replicated throughout the nation.
>> I think many times we compartmentalize what our
responsibilities are and
when we do our work it goes off to somebody else.
We don't know exactly who it is.
This is an opportunity for us to step back and
reflect on the whole episode of care.
And how each one of our providers interacts to that
relationship.
So it is an opportunity to learn and grow together.
It's an opportunity to share best practices.
And then to demonstrate through measurement that we're really
making a difference.
And then share that with the rest of the healthcare industry.
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