AHRQ offers 17 tool kits to help reduce medical errors
Seventeen tool kits designed to help physicians, nurses, hospital managers and patients reduce medical errors are available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The tool kits, developed by AHRQ-funded experts in patient safety research, range from checklists for reconciling medications when patients are discharged to processes for enhancing communications among caregivers.
Examples of interventions promoted by the AHRQ tool kits include:
- A re-engineered hospital discharge Project RED tool kit to standardize the discharge process through a set of manuals and software designed to improve communication between clinicians and patients.
- A Medications at Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) tool kit that identifies patient risk factors frequently associated with inaccurate medication reconciliation.
- Preventing Venous Thromboembolisms in the Hospital tool kit and Interactive Venous Thromboembolism Safety Tool Kit for Providers and Patients both focus on multidisciplinary approaches to eliminating preventable hospital-acquired blood clots.
- An ED Pharmacist as a Safety Measure in Emergency Medicine tool kit focuses on a program placing pharmacists in hospital emergency departments to improve medication safety and reconciliation.
View a complete listing of the 17 tool kits.
Read more news stories.