Clinical Affairs outlines JCAHO’s 2006 National Patient Safety Goals

The 2006 National Patient Safety Goals of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, upon which UC Davis Health System will be evaluated, are featured in “Safety Net,” a newsletter produced by Clinical Affairs.

The health system will be evaluated on its continuous compliance with and commitment to meeting the JCAHO goals. Two new requirements have been added to the safety goals. One pertains to the goal of improving the effectiveness of communication among caregivers, while the other addresses the appropriate labeling of items in perioperative and procedural settings.

The purpose of JCAHO’s National Patient Safety Goals is to promote specific improvements in patient safety. The goals highlight problematic areas in health care and describe evidence and expert-based solutions to these problems. Recognizing that sound system design is intrinsic to the delivery of safe, high quality health care, the goals focus on system-wide solutions wherever possible.

As with JCAHO standards, accredited organizations are evaluated for continuous compliance with the specific requirements associated with the National Patient Safety Goals. Although these requirements are generally more prescriptive than JCAHO standard requirements, organizations are permitted to design alternative approaches to meeting goal requirements and to request JCAHO consideration and approval of such alternatives.

The development and annual updating of the safety goals and requirements are overseen by an expert panel of widely recognized patient safety experts as well as nurses, physicians, pharmacists, risk managers and other professionals who have hands-on experience in addressing patient safety issues in a wide variety of health care settings.

For a copy of Clinical Affairs’ “Safety Net” newsletter, click here.