Top 10 list

The federal agency charged with overseeing healthcare quality has spotlighted a list of 10 patient-safety practices it says will go a long way toward achieving better care and improved patient outcomes.

Dr. Peter Pronovost, head of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and a co-principal investigator of the latest report, said the lists of recommended practices illustrate just how much the field has matured since the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released its last analysis of safety practices, in 2001. “At that time, we didn't have good science or interventions,” he said.

The March 4 report, issued by AHRQ, contains an analysis of 41 common safety practices, using available data on the scope of the targeted problem, evidence of effectiveness, ease of implementation, potential for harm and related costs.

Ten of those practices were classified as “strongly encouraged” for adoption, including preoperative checklists, hand hygiene and prevention bundles for central line-associated bloodstream infections.

Another 12 safety practices were deemed “encouraged” for adoption, among them medication reconciliation and team training.

Despite what Pronovost characterized as encouraging progress, much work remains to be done, he said. “The real onus now is on providers to do something,” he said. “These practices are well-vetted and are matched to specific problems that are causing patients to die needlessly.”