Perinatal Safety Initiative

According to a report made by the Journal for Healthcare Quality, a perinatal safety initiative (PSI) may be able to reduce the risk for adverse obstetric outcomes. With this, patient safety would increase, giving staff and patients a better experience.

From 2007-2009, Brian Wagner, M.D., from the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, N.Y., and colleagues looked at whether implementation of a multistep, multicomponent PSI would decrease adverse outcomes. The initiatives the group took included: team training stressing communication, a program simulating high-risk obstetrical emergencies, evidence-based protocols, standardizing electronic fetal monitoring with requisite documentation of competence, and distribution of an integrated educational program among all health care providers.  

After examinations, it was found that the Adverse Outcome Index decreased from 2.0 to 0.8 percent within the first year. During the two year period, the number sustained. With this, birth trauma and rates of return to the operating room also decreased over time. Staff perceptions of safety, when it came to perinatal, dramatically improved as well.

At Snyder & Wenner we strive to keep the community safe when hospital care is involved. We have become patient safety advocates by representing patients who have been harmed from hospital error. If you know someone who has been seriously harmed from a hospital error please feel free to contact us. The Snyder & Wenner website can be accessed by clicking the "Patient Safety Advocates" tab above.

Snyder & Wenner, P.C.
602-224-0005