Patient Safety

Patient safety is a major initiative in health care. Increasing member awareness of patient safety issues and providing neurologists with tools and programs to enhance patient safety can:

• Improve patient care
• Facilitate the creation of more efficient office practices
• Improve practice risk management strategies

Patient Safety Resources

Patient safety is a relatively recent initiative in health care, emphasizing the reporting, analysis and prevention of medical error and adverse healthcare events. The frequency and magnitude of avoidable adverse events was not well known until the 1990s, when reports in several countries revealed a staggering number of patient injuries and deaths each year. The most common causes of preventable medical errors are:

1. Diagnostic errors: could result from a direct mistake or relying on incorrect information provided by another heath care provider
2. Poor communication between various medical service providers
3. Poor record keeping
4. Errors in prescribing medication
5. Overwork and tiredness of medical staff called on to perform extra duties
6. Lack of more safe guards or checking points of healthcare system

Patient Safety Online CME

AAN's first online-only CME offering is "Recognizing Abuse in Your Neurology Patients" by Anna DePold Hohler, MD. From this important module, you will learn about the prevalence of abuse, the different types of abuse, methods of screening, and ways to respond to a patient who discloses abuse. One credit of CME is offered.

Register Now!

Patient Safety Colloquia Syllabi

Use this archive of syllabi from past Patient Safety Colloquia to become familiar with recent trends in the area of patient safety:

• Patient Safety Colloquium: Medication Safety Across Your Practice Settings (2009)
• Patient Safety Colloquium: Essential Patient Safety for the Neurologist - Does Your Practice Measure Up? (2008)
• Patient Safety Colloquium: Patient Safety Is No Accident: Practical Strategies for a Safer Neurology Practice (2007)

ePrescribing

ePrescribing can increase the safety of your practice by reducing the likelihood of medication errors due to incomplete, illegible, or misunderstood prescriptions. Medicare offers incentives for utilization of ePrescribing. Find out more here.

Older Driver Safety

Older drivers, particularly those over the age of 85, are at higher risk for traffic fatalities. Additionally, older drivers experience more accidents per mile driven than their younger counterparts. Neurologists play an important role in the safe mobility of their patients, though assessing driving risk and communicating that risk to families can be difficult. The AMA, in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has developed a Physician's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers. Access the AAN's guideline for the assessment of driving risk in patient with dementia.