AHRQ Patient Safety Network - Checklists

AHRQ Patient Safety Network - Checklists

Patient Safety Update:AHRQ Primer Discusses Using Checklists to Reduce the Risk of Health Care Errors

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 07/17/2013 06:11 PM EDT

Most errors in health care are defined as slips rather than mistakes, and checklists can help prevent them, according to a patient safety primer available on AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network. The primer explains how participants in a project in Michigan successfully reduced central line–associated bloodstream infections by employing checklists along with extensive preparatory work in safety culture and teamwork.  While checklists can be used effectively to reduce the risk of errors where standardizing behavior is the goal, the primer notes that they are not appropriate for every problem. Diagnostic errors, for example, require different approaches.  

To access the full patient safety primer, titled Checklists, go to: http://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer.aspx?primerID=14