Patient Safety

Your Safety is our Priority

At Wellstar, we are committed to ensuring you receive safe care during your stay. We believe in the importance of including both you and your loved ones in your healthcare. We want you to feel comfortable speaking up when something does not seem right or if we did not meet your needs. As a partner, we request that you S-P-E-A-K U-P (Speak Up):

• Speak up when you are concerned or notice a change in how you are feeling.


• Pay attention to the care you are receiving and ask questions about anything you do not understand.


• Educate yourself by knowing what is needed at home to recover and get a list of all current medications.


• Ask for help if you have trouble remembering the information you hear.


• Know your medications, and if you receive a drug you do not recognize, ask to verify that it is for you before taking it.


• Understand your healthcare. If you have a planned procedure, confirm all appropriate information is correct before the procedure starts.
• Participate in your care by keeping a list of questions you want to ask your providers.

High-Reliability at Wellstar

• We are a leader in safety and high reliability with the mission of delivering world-class healthcare. Implementing evidence-based best practices, processes, and strategies to prevent errors, we ensure every day is a safe day at Wellstar.
• Our Safety First program is the safety and reliability program practiced by every team member, leader, and physician. Safety First includes the adoption of techniques and skills from other high-reliability industries such as nuclear power and aviation and includes:
  
  • Error prevention tools and skills to reduce variation and our likelihood of error
  • Safety huddles, checklists, and surgical time-outs
  • Leveraging technology to streamline processes, such as medication barcode scanning, ensures the correct patient receives the proper medication at the right time.
  • Safety and reliability team training is available for all team members and physicians to enhance teamwork and effective communication.
  • A strong culture of safety encourages open communication of concerns and unsafe conditions for timely correction and improvement.
  • Safety coaches that coach peers on the consistent use of error prevention techniques.
• High-reliability leader standard work training that provides tools and strategies for our leaders.
• A "fair and just culture" that fosters trust, process improvement, and patient safety focus.

Additional approaches to foster safety and reliability include the following:

Patients and Families as Partners

We want to partner with you for healthcare safety and encourage active participation as the healthcare team members. For example, when you come to one of our facilities, bring a complete list of current medications, including all prescribed medications, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, and supplements. This process will allow us to check all medications to ensure you are receiving the best care possible. If you are not receiving medicines that you usually take at home, be sure to SPEAK UP and ask why so we have the opportunity to review.

Confirming Patient Identifiers

When you receive care at one of our facilities, we will confirm patient identity by asking for your name and birth date. We understand asking for your name and birth date each time we provide care may seem repetitive. Still, we do this for your safety to make sure you receive the proper care and treatment. If someone does not confirm your identity before administering a medication or starting a procedure, please SPEAK UP.

Secured Patient Health Information

Patient health records are electronic and allow for enhanced communication among the care team by providing:

• Real-time test results
• MyChart access for a complete health record as well as medication lists
• Electronically generated prescriptions
• Automatic drug interaction alerts
• Easy-to-read notes

Innovation and Technology

Wellstar has advanced technology, processes, protocols, and equipment to keep our patients and team members safe and includes:

• Safe patient handling equipment
• Advanced simulation labs to develop clinical skills
• Medication bar code scanning
• Smart IV pumps to prevent medication errors
• Best practice alerts, order sets, and protocols within the electronic medical record to support reliable, safe, and high-quality care.

Today at Wellstar, we deliver high-quality and safe healthcare services that improve the well-being of the individuals and communities we are privileged to serve.