A Hospital-wide Quality Improvement for Positive Patient Identification;
"Every Patient has an Identity"
Judith Mignone and Denise L. Uettwiller-Geiger
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson, New York
Positively identifying the patient is the fundamental basis for providing
quality care and patient safety. This identity must be part of every process
the patient encounters and it must remain with him long after he is discharged.
The importance of Positive Patient Identification transcends all departments
involved with the patient. Positive Patient Identification must be assured
before every test, treatment and diagnosis. It must be correct for each report,
bill, and medical record chart. Positive Patient Identification is every
patient's right. It is what we, as patients, would expect for our families and
ourselves. It should be equally as important to provide for others.
Positive Patient Identification means admitting the patient with the correct
information to provide him with a unique number for identification, placing a
wristband on his wrist, labeling a specimen at bedside, never forgetting or
omitting his name, rechecking his medication orders and drawing blood on the
right patient. While many policies were in place to assure Positive Patient
Identification, the hospitals recognition of its importance presented many
opportunities for improvement. Because the laboratory interacts with multiple
departments, it was in a unique position to lead the project and integrate
improvements as an institution. Each department was encouraged to develop
processes that would assure Positive Patient Identification.
Positive Patient Identification for specimen labeling, wristband placement
and transfusion identification have been a Laboratory focus for the past five
years. Our improvements demonstrated a 20% decrease in labeling errors, a 19%
improvement in wristband placement and improved blood administration policies.
All other participating departments developed processes to assure positive
patient identification with similar success.
The Positive Patient Identification project has attempted to reinforce the
fundamental standards inherent in providing quality care and patient safety.
This approach has decreased our error rate, heightened awareness and provided a
common goal to assure positive patient outcomes.
Quality assurance, regulatory standards, and ethical issues demand that we
continue our focus on Positive Patient Identification. This is not something we
can ignore, or ever complete. We must continue to be vigilant in our
observation and practice to prevent serious errors from occurring. It is our
responsibility as health care workers to recognize that "every patient has an
identity".
It is being creative, stretching our imaginations and developing systems,
which exceed expectations that we can excel as a quality institution. The
concept of Hospital-wide quality improvement for Positive Patient
Identification is a challenge and it is an opportunity to provide every
mechanism to assure the patient will be positively identified at all times.
|