In the August 16 edition of the Weekly Jolt, we wrote about the Healthcare Technology Foundation’s (HTF) call to action for all members of the profession to take its new survey to determine changes in the health care profession’s perception of clinical alarm problems, improvements made at their facilities, and priorities for future action.
J. Tobey Clark, MSEE, CCE, director of instrumentation and technical services, University of Vermont, and HTF president, said, “Clinical alarm challenges continue to lead to a significant number of adverse patient events.” He added that the organization had surveyd the field in 2006, which led to the publication of an important white paper—“Impact of Clinical Alarms on Patient Safety,” and it was now re-surveying the field to determine changes in perceptions, priorities, and actions taken related to clinical alarm issues.
The HTF completed the survey of 4,278 health care professionals on September 10 and the full report on is now available. To read the results on the HTF Web site, click here. The report offers comparisons of responses between 2006 and 2011 and also lists new questions asked for 2011. One new question’s response indicated that almost 1 in 5 institutions experienced adverse patient events over the last two years, in relation to clinical alarms. Have a look at the survey results and compare activities of your department with the results.
If you didn’t catch our September issue, click here to have a look at what BMETs and CEs can do to help combat alarm fatigue.
