Checklists Can Improve Patient Safety

Viscot Medical

Is it really that simple? Standard Written Checklists Can Improve Patient Safety.

Checklists have the power to help keep us organized, but do they also have the power to save lives?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has found that in a crisis situation such as when a patient experiences cardiac arrest or other crisis during surgery doctors, nurses, and other OR staff are nearly 75% less likely to miss a critical clinical step when provided a written safety checklist [AHRQ Press Release].

Another checklist created by the Joint Commission was designed to help put an end to ‘Never Events' in the OR, but even with this effective solution in place 4,000 Never Events occur annually in the U.S. alone [Surgical Never Events In the United States].

Checklist can help make the OR safer but they can only do so much. It's up to health care providers to follow their list every time and up to us to create the safety solutions to make the job easier.

Viscot Medical may not create checklist but we do create safety innovations to help end Never Events like wrong site surgery. Innovations like a prep resistant ink to assure that the surgical site mark is clearly visible, as required by the Joint Commission, even after prepping with common alcohol based antiseptic like ChloraPrep^®