Patient care standardising

In silico models will aid both the standardisation and individualisation of medical care. Standardisation of diagnoses, drug and device descriptions, procedures, etc. will make relevant information more readily and more widely available. On the other hand, advanced models will allow development of patient-specific procedures for diagnosis and treatment. This will move the focus from the treatment of diseases to the curing of patients. 

Various safety culture tools and approaches have been adapted from other industries and tailored to measure safety culture in healthcare organisations. These include safety culture measurement tools, safety walk rounds and checklists which aim to standardise patient care and improve reliability. So how have safety culture tools been adapted and implemented in healthcare organisations What lessons have we leamt so far that could inform future work in this area ... 

Other methods that have been adapted and appfied to measnre and improve safety culture in healthcare oi nisations include safety walk-rounds and checklists designed to standardise patient care (for example, the World Health Oiganisation Surgical Safety Checklist). 

Each time a patient moves from one setting to another, clinicians should compare previous medication orders with new orders and plans for care and reconcile any differences. If this process does not occur in a standardised manner designed to ensure complete reconciliation, medication errors may lead to adverse events and harm (IHI MedReconcilliation 2008). Several national organisations round the world have now produced help to reduce errors with medication reconciliation. Some examples are given below. 

Because of an incomplete understanding of their modes of action, lack of standardisation in their manufacture and limited awareness of potential adverse effects, great care must be taken in using herbal medicines in patients with liver disease, and often the safest option is simply to avoid them because of the lack of information. This statement can also be applied to recreational drugs. 

---