Ending Hospital Errors

Health Care errors happen nearly every day, 4,000 preventable Never Events that occur annually.
The Joint Commission has an ongoing safety educational program available that is available to anyone, regardless of whether or not you’re Joint Commission accredited.
Viscot Medical is committed to supporting patient safety goals. We offer safety solutions such as correct site marking tools and our medication label safety program... Read the rest here!

From Healthcare Purchasing News: Massachusetts hospitals' mistakes list widens

Massachusetts acute-care hospitals reported 753 serious medical errors and other patient injuries last year, a 70% annual jump that health officials attributed mostly to expanded definitions of what constitutes medical harm… "
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XL Prep Resistant Ink surgical markers are the gold standard for the Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol for correct site marking: “The mark is sufficiently permanent to be visible after skin preparation and draping”. Viscot Medical’s XL Ink skin markers are visible up to 10x longer... Read the full story here

From Outpatient Surgery News: Hospitals Aren't Getting Safer, Experts Tell Congress

Are patients in U.S. hospitals safer than they were 15 years ago…? ‘The unfortunate answer is no,’ Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, told a U.S. Senate subcommittee last week.” … “Recent reports have suggested that the..." Read more here!

From Outpatient Surgery News: About My Error

No surgeon wants to perform a wrong site surgery, and who would want to talk about it when they do? David Ring, MD, PhD has found talking about his error therapeutic: “Talking about it helped me heal. Talking about it helps other patients, other surgeons and their teams embrace a safety culture, adopt checklists and encourage each other to speak up.”

Dr. Ring’s error was... Read the rest here!

Patient Safety Tool: 9 Tools From the Patient Safety Movement

Viscot Medical offers additional patient safety tools to help you achieve your goals. Our Prep Resistant XL skin marker remains visible up to 10x longer even after prep, making it the gold standard in correct site marking... Read the full story here.

Zero Preventable Deaths by 2020

This weekend I had the pleasure to attend to the Patient Safety Movement's Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit. The Patient Safety Movement is a grassroots movement that seeks to get to zero preventable deaths... Read more here.

From Outpatient Surgery News: Error Reporting Works

“It's been a decade since the Minnesota Department of Health began requiring the state's hospitals and surgery centers to report serious but preventable medical errors such as wrong-site surgery... Read more here

From The Guardian: Mistakes That Should Never Happen Harm 150 NHS Patients in Six Months

“Almost 150 NHS patients have been harmed by incidents that should never happen..." read more here!

From Outpatient Surgery News: 10 Common Slip-Ups That Can Get You Sued

“In my experience and in my review of recent malpractice cases..." read more here!

From Outpatient Surgery News: Joint Commission Issues Sentinel Event Alert on Retained Objects

“The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert, warning hospitals and surgery centers about the prevalence and dangers of retained objects... Read more here.

Infection Prevention: The Steady Decline

East Hanover, NJ – [February 21], 2013 – Viscot Medical and Infection Prevention

CDC has released data showing the decline in specific Hospital Acquired Infections. Such as central line-associated bloodstream infections- especially in intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units- which dropped 41 percent between 2008 and 2011, beating out the previously recorded 32 percent in 2010. Surgical site infections (SSIs) saw a 17 percent reduction since 2008, up from the 7 percent reduction in 2010 [www.fiercehealthcare.com].

This is only the beginning, as suggested by... read the rest on www.viscot.com!

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

East Hanover, NJ – [February 5], 2013 –  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... Read more on www.viscot.com!

Viscot Medical – Helping to Eliminate Medication Labeling Errors!

East Hanover, NJ – [September 10], 2012 –  Viscot supports medication label safety solutions.

Viscot Medical, a 40 year old global leader in surgical markers, is known for just that: surgical markers. But that’s not the only Safety Solution we proudly create.

Viscot Medical is home to one of the most competitive Medication Label Programs in the industry, not only in price but in quality and service. Vismark™ Medication Labels and Kits are waterproof, residue-free, tear-free, and (if you use one of our waterproof permanent ink markers) smudge free... (read the rest here on www.viscot.com)

Hospital Errors: When will they end?!

It seems like every day there's a new story in my inbox about a hospital being fined for safety violations or being cited for endangering patients. The sad thing is many of these mistakes and occurrences are completely 100% preventable. The Joint Commission has ongoing education available, this information can be accessed by absolutely anyone. Facilities doesn't have to be Joint Commission accredited to be safer, they just have to be willing and open to the tools that can make them safer.

Viscot Medical is committed to safety. Not only do we offer safety solutions such as correct site marking tools and our medication label safety program, we like to offer a constant stream of information through our Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and even right here on BlogSpot. Viscot Medical isn't just your one stop shop for markers, it's your one stop shop for the knowledge patients and health care professionals should arm themselves with to make the world- at least inside the OR- a safer place.

Viscot Medical

A proud Veteran Owned Small Business

www.viscot.com