ENH wins medication-use safety award
The ASHP Foundation has announced that Evanston (IL) Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) has been awarded the 2005 Award for Excellence in Medication-Use Safety.
This award program honors a pharmacist-led multidisciplinary team for its significant institutionwide system improvements relating to medication use. The award, which is sponsored by Cardinal Health Foundation in Dublin, OH, recognizes on a national level pharmacy professionals who have assumed a leadership role in promoting safety in the medication-use process. The competition also honors two finalists.
This year’s winner created a completely electronic health record system for use in an acute care and ambulatory setting. ENH implemented the system in its three hospitals and 60-plus physician offices, and required every physician and clinician to use it, according to the foundation’s announcement. This resulted in improved patient safety by eliminating problems associated with illegible orders; accessibility to the right patient data at the right time for all physicians, clinicians, and administrators; and assurance that the information and coded data in the record are accurate.
Since implementation, ENH has experienced a 100% elimination of all transcription-related medication errors, a 70% decrease in delayed administration of medications to patients, a 20% decrease in omitted medication administration, and a 50% reduction for time from order to administration of first-dose antibiotics. Details about the system and its implementation are being prepared for publication, says Lynn Boecler, PharmD, MS, senior director of pharmacy services for Evanston Hospital, and the pharmacist who led ENH’s multidisciplinary team in its initiatives.
The first finalist, St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Beech Grove, IN, commissioned a Medication Event Decision Support (MEDS) Team to develop a strategic plan for medication safety. The team built a "culture of safety" in St. Francis, promoting a nonpunitive culture for sharing information and lessons learned; developing a safety reporting system; and fostering multidisciplinary teamwork. Major initiatives included instituting a zero-tolerance policy for use of abbreviations related to insulin orders and determining new ways to use existing technology to improve medication safety and communications.
The second finalist, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento (SMCS) in California, developed an Emergency Drug Sheet System to define all concentrations of vasoactive medications and standardize procedures for all aspects related to medication use, including prescribing, preparing, administering, dispensing, and storing. The sheet is used by all clinicians for all patients, regardless of age, size, or location in the 500-bed tertiary care hospital. The system eliminated manual math calculations from the prescribing, preparing, and administering steps in the medication-use process. SMCS developed a software program that prints the single-page, patient-specific reference sheet; the program adjusts to the specific patient, eliminating the need for the clinician to adjust to multiple systems in different patient care areas. The sheet can be printed from any patient care computer by entering a name and weight. This has resulted in faster and safer preparation and delivery of vasoactive medications for neonatal and pediatric patients, allowing clinicians to focus on other clinical issues instead of mathematical calculations at critical periods in patient care.
The three sites were chosen by an interdisciplinary panel of judges who evaluated 19 applications. Finalists were chosen based on criteria focusing on achievements in medication-use system initiative/scope, planning and implementation, measurable outcomes and impact, and innovation and applicability. Judges visited each finalist site before selecting a recipient. For winning the award, ENH receives $50,000 to be used to further promote medication-use safety in its health system. The finalists, St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers and Sutter Medical Center, each receive a $10,000 award.
The ASHP Foundation has announced that Evanston (IL) Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) has been awarded the 2005 Award for Excellence in Medication-Use Safety.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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