16th May

Patient Safety is the foundation upon which Quality Healthcare is built.

Virtually every healthcare setting is working toward the shared goal of providing safer care for patients. This includes not only within the walls of each institution but across the continuum of care as well. Managing safe transitions from one healthcare setting to the next is challenging. Elderly patients are the most vulnerable during that transition phase. Every measure must be engaged to ensure that all aspects of care are addressed.

Simply put, safe patient care is avoidance of harm from the care that is intended to help them. Accurate information must be passed during that transition of care. More patient adverse events occur due to information not correctly passed on during the handoff.

According to Joint Commission, 62% of accidental deaths and 80% of serious medical errors are linked to communication failures.

Patient centered care with continuous flow of information that supports continuity of care is the goal. Breakdown of communication results in a failure to achieve optimum patient outcomes. Safer patient care means better outcomes. It is imperative that care providers work with their upstream and downstream referrals to ensure that pertinent patient information is passed along appropriately.

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