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The PSNet Collection: All Content

The AHRQ PSNet Collection comprises an extensive selection of resources relevant to the patient safety community. These resources come in a variety of formats, including literature, research, tools, and Web sites. Resources are identified using the National Library of Medicine’s Medline database, various news and content aggregators, and the expertise of the AHRQ PSNet editorial and technical teams.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 684 Results
Leon C, Hogan H, Jani YH. BMJ Qual Saf. 2023;Epub Nov 3.
Errors associated with high-risk medications (HRM) like insulin and anticoagulants carry a greater risk for harm. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify measures evaluating the safety of HRM during transitions of care. Measures were mapped to frameworks (e.g., Donabedian) and whether measures were reactive, proactive, or real-time. The authors describe ways technology can improve how the measures are implemented.
WebM&M Case November 30, 2023

A 67-year-old man with well-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent elective cardiac resynchronization and defibrillator device (CRT-D) implantation. The procedure was successful and he was discharged the next day with instructions to resume his prior medications, including empagliflozin. He presented to the emergency department the following day where he was diagnosed with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (eDKA) and he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) for insulin infusion.

WebM&M Case November 29, 2023

This case describes a 55-year-old woman who sustained critical injuries after a motor vehicle crash and had a lengthy hospitalization. On hospital day 30, a surgeon placed a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube in the intensive care unit (ICU) after computed tomography (CT) scan showed no interposed bowel between the stomach and the anterior abdominal wall.  After the uncomplicated PEG placement, the surgeon cleared the patient’s team to advance tube feeds as tolerated.

Cam H, Wennlöf B, Gillespie U, et al. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23:1211.
When patients are discharged from the hospital, they (and their informal caregivers) are given copious amounts of information that must also be communicated to their primary care provider. This qualitative study of primary care and hospital physicians, nurses, and pharmacists highlights several barriers to complete and effective communication between levels of care, particularly regarding geriatric medication safety. Barriers include the large number of complex patients and incongruent expectations of responsibility of primary and hospital providers. Support systems, such as electronic health records, can both enable and hinder communication.
Hoffman AM, Walls JL, Prusch A, et al. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2023;Epub Oct 9.
Hospitals must balance costs associated with pharmacist medication reconciliation (e.g., salary) with prevented harm and cost avoidance (e.g., unreimbursed expenses resulting from medication error). This study found an estimate cost avoidance of $47,000 - $231,000 during one month in one hospital. The highest-risk, highest-cost classes were insulin, antithrombotics, and opioids. In resource-limited environments, focusing on the highest-cost classes could avoid significant cost and patient harm.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2023. ISBN: 9780309711937.

Maternal health care is rapidly emerging as a high-risk service that is vulnerable to communication, equity, and diagnostic challenges. This report examines the role of disparities in care across the maternal care continuum and strategies to drive diagnostic improvement such as care bundles, midwives, and health information technology. This publication is from a series of programs and resultant publications on improving diagnostic excellence.
Lim PJH, Chen L, Siow S, et al. Int J Qual Health Care. 2023;35:mzad086.
Surgical safety checklists (SCC) are utilized around the world, but checklist completion at the operating room level remains inconsistent. This review summarizes facilitators and barriers to completion. Resistance or endorsement at the individual surgeon level remains a significant factor in SSC completion. Early inclusion of frontline staff in evaluation and implementation supported increased use.
Milic V, Cameron L, Jones C. Br J Nurs. 2023;32:840-848.
Double checking of medication administration one strategy meant to reduce medication errors. In this study, 29 critical care nurses took part in a focus group exploring the barriers to double-checking during medication administration. Participants discussed several challenges, such as patient location (particularly for patients in isolation due to infection control measure), health IT limitations, and unclear roles and responsibilities.
WebM&M Case October 31, 2023

A 2-year-old girl presented to the emergency department (ED) with joint swelling and rash following an upper respiratory infection. After receiving treatment and being discharged with a diagnosis of allergic urticaria, she returned the following day with worsening symptoms. Suspecting an allergic reaction to amoxicillin, the ED team prepared to administer methylprednisolone. However, the ED intake technician erroneously switched the patient’s height and weight in the electronic health record (EHR), resulting in an excessive dose being ordered and dispensed.

Weeda ER, Ward R, Gebregziabher M, et al. Med Care. 2023;Epub Oct 4.
Fragmentation of care between inpatient and outpatient settings can lead to poor patient outcomes. Based on a cohort of veterans ages 65 years or older who had a myocardial infarction, this study examined the use of outpatient medications for secondary prevention (e.g., beta blockers, statins) in the preceding 30 days among patients treated at Veterans Health Administration (VA) versus non-VA hospitals. The researchers found that medication omissions, duplications and delays in prescribing of secondary prevention medications were more common among patients treated at non-VA hospitals.

Tanski MC. Pharmacy Times Health Systems edition. September 2023;12(5):34-35.

Medication reconciliation should be completed at admission, discharge, and during transitions of care. This article describes the impacts of pharmacist involvement, including lower hospital readmissions and post-discharge adverse events.
Phillips KK, Mecca MC, Baim‐Lance AM, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023;71:2935-2945.
Polypharmacy is a common patient safety concern among veterans. In this study, 21 Veterans Health Administration (VA) sites developed their own deprescribing protocols and participated in a virtual deprescribing collaborative. Sites employed decision support tools, such as the VA VIONE tool, and other strategies, such as individualized medication review, to encourage deprescribing and reduce polypharmacy among its patients.
Cornell EG, Harris E, McCune E, et al. Diagnosis (Berl). 2023;10:417-423.
Structured handoffs can improve the quality of patient information passed from one care team to another. This article describes intensivists' perspectives on a potential handoff tool (ICU-PAUSE) for handoff from the intensive care unit (ICU) to medical ward. They described the usefulness of a structured clinical note, especially regarding pending tests and the status of high-risk medications. Several barriers were also discussed, such as the frequent training required for residents who rotate in and out of the ICU and potential duplication of the daily chart note.
Matern LH, Gardner R, Rudolph JW, et al. J Clin Anesth. 2023;90:111235.
Effective team communication is essential during crisis management. In this study, 60 anesthesiologists participating in a simulated perioperative anaphylaxis crisis scenario identified common clinical factors prompting crisis acknowledgement.
Atallah F, Gomes C, Minkoff H. Obstet Gynecol. 2023;142:727-732.
Researchers describe two types of decision making in medicine - fast (intuitive) and slow (analytical). While both types are subject to bias, this paper describes how cognitive biases in fast thinking, such as anchoring or framing, as well as racial or moral bias, can result in obstetrical misdiagnosis. Ten steps to mitigate these cognitive biases are laid out.
WebM&M Case September 27, 2023

A 14-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with a new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus without ketoacidosis. Before discharge, medications intended for home use were delivered to the patient’s bedside, but the resident physician noticed a discrepancy. An insulin pen and pen needles had been ordered, but an insulin vial and extra insulin syringes were delivered. Neither the patient nor the parents had received education on how to draw up and administer insulin using a vial and syringe.

Graedon T. People’s Pharmacy.  Show 1355. September 8, 2023.

Misdiagnosis continues to impact the safety of health care. This podcast with David Newman-Toker discusses foundational issues that detract from diagnostic safety and examines how teamwork, training, technology, tuning can make the process more reliable. Strategies for patients to play a role in their diagnostic process are also discussed.
Kramer JS, Hayley Burgess L, Warren C, et al. J Patient Saf Risk Manag. 2023;Epub Aug 27.
Obtaining a best possible medication history (BPM) is an important component of successful medication reconciliation programs. This study compared the impact of a pharmacy-led medication reconciliation program including BPMH on adverse drug events (ADEs) and complications among high-risk, complex patients across 16 hospitals. In the six months following implementation, 80,000 reconciliations were completed and nearly 40% required additional medication follow-up and/or clarification. Researchers identified a statistically significant decrease in both ADEs and complications after implementation.