Reduce Risk With Anesthesia

To improve patient safety, hospitals must proactively identify potential medical errors and eliminate mistakes before they happen.   

 

This is especially true in the operating room, where proper anesthesia documentation helps reduce medication errors and decrease hospital liability.

Fast, accurate documentation throughout the patient’s case results in a complete and legally

sound electronic medical record. Clinicians can share details of the patient’s history

and current condition as the case progresses – improving patient care.  Documentation of medication reconciliation provides regulatory compliance.

Proper anesthesia documentation helps prevent errors from occurring by ensuring that correct procedures are followed.

When considering automated anesthesia documentation, healthcare organizations should keep these 7 points in mind:

1. Make sure the solution cross-checks for adverse drug events.

2. Leverage a solution with formulary reference for allergies and medication.

3. Ensure the solution provides an automated capture feature for physiological data.

4. Remember that solutions should complement, not replace, the clinician’s expertise.

5. Ensure pre-anesthesia evaluations are included as part of patient history documentation.

6. Find a solution with templates for common procedures to speed the documentation process.

7. Look for a solution that includes prophylactic antibiotic alerts to promote timely administration of medication.

Armed with the latest technology, anesthesiologists and operating room healthcare professionals can focus less on documentation and more on delivering the highest-quality patient care during procedures.

For additional information on how automated anesthesia documentation can enable healthcare providers to enhance patient safety and reduce risk, visit: http://www.mckesson.com/en_us/McKesson.com/For%2BHealthcare%2BProviders/Hospitals/Surgical%2BSolutions/McKesson%2BAnesthesia%2BCare.html