Assessing the Evidence for Context-Sensitive Effectiveness and Safety of Patient Safety Practices: Developing Criteria (Prepared under Contract No. HHSA-290-2009-10001C).

Abstract

2: Technical Expert Panel Bio-Paragraphs committee deliberations regarding the research questions, the study investigators, working with a panel of experts, chose to focus on five PSPs representing various aspects of the patient safety research field:1. Checklists for catheter-related bloodstream infection prevention.2. The Universal Protocol for preventing wrong procedure, wrong site, wrong person surgery.3. Computerized order entry/decision support systems.4. Medication reconciliation.5. Interventions to prevent in-facility falls. MethodsIn this 1-year project, we assembled a 22-member Technical Expert Panel (TEP) comprising international patient safety leaders, clinicians, policymakers, social scientists, and methodologists.We met with the TEP three times, performed many literature reviews, conducted five Internet surveys, and achieved consensus on the points below. Key Findings1. Important evaluation questions for these PSPs are: a.What is the effectiveness of the PSP? b.What is the implementation experience of the PSP at individual institutions?c.What is the success of widespread adoption, spread, and sustainability of the PSP?