Children’s Hospitals and Clinics Minneapolis/St. Paul

One of the hrst steps taken in connection with the comprehensive patient safety agenda at Children s Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, was to invite randomly selected employees, residents, students, physicians, and families to participate in focus groups. The following case study illustrates how focus groups were used to gather information and to create awareness of patient safety. 

Paper forms should have limited, fixed fields and significant space for the descriptive story of what happened. For example, a Web-based reporting form that is secure and password-protected was designed at Children s Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. The form asks just five questions ... 

Source C. Robison, E. Knox, and). Morath, Children s Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, 1999. 

For doctors, nurse practitioners, and other health care professionals who prescribe medications, writing a prescription easily becomes as automatic as driving a car. Unfortunately, it can be just as dangerous. Mark Thomas, director of pharmacy services at Children s Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, is responsible for helping prescribers improve safety by using "safe prescribing."... 

---