Profession
Study shows AHRQ safety indicators could work for children's hospitals
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 17, 2005
A new study led by a University of Michigan faculty member and compiled by the National Assn. of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions shows that some of the tools used to measure patient safety in adult hospitals can be applied to children's hospitals as well.
The study evaluated information from about 1.92 million children's hospital stays over four years and found that there is room for improvement in preventing hospital-acquired infections, clots in intravenous lines and bedsores. This is the first study to evaluate whether the use of adult patient safety indicators established by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality might work at children's hospitals.
In an effort to establish accurate tools for measuring patient safety in children's hospitals, NACHRI is working with AHRQ and Aileen Sedman, MD, lead author of the study, to determine appropriate patient safety indicators for children.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/17/prbf0117.htm.