The Utah Department of Health is committed to the goal of increasing patient safety in health care facilities. Studies cited in the Institute of Medicine report, To Err Is Human, estimate that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year as the result of medical errors, with national health care costs from preventable adverse events totaling between nine and fifteen billion dollars. Through a number of collaborative initiatives, UDOH is striving to better understand the nature and occurrence of adverse events in Utah and to implement interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of adverse events.
     
 
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Patient Safety in the News

One In Five Seniors Prescribed An Inappropriate Medication, Study Finds
American Hospital Association (AHA) News
August 9, 2004

Seniors often are prescribed potentially inappropriate medications, according to a study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study's authors analyzed outpatient prescription claims of a large, national pharmaceutical benefit manager and found that, of 765,423 patients 65 or older who filled a prescription in 1999, more than one in five (21.2%) filled a prescription for a drug on the "Beers list" of medications that should be avoided in the elderly in any dose or frequency. Of those, 44% filled a prescription for a potentially harmful medication, and 41% filled a prescription for a psychotropic drug, most commonly an antidepressant. The study's authors said their findings, which are consistent with earlier studies, "should serve as a reminder to monitor" potentially inappropriate medications. They noted, however, that such lists "may be too rigid and cannot take into account all factors that define individualized high-quality care," and that a physician may determine that the benefits of a proscribed drug outweigh its risks for a particular patient.

Pre-surgery 'time outs': Reviews let patients help ensure medical procedures are done right
Deseret Morning News
June 24, 2004

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view2/1,4382,595072600,00.html?textfield=patient+safety
 
 

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Last updated on June 6, 2007 1:06 PM