That wasn't always the case at Temple, where various members
of the patient care team documented that infection prevention
steps had been completed in various fields within the OR Surgical
Site Infection Report — and sometimes even on slip sheets. As a
result, the results of the hospital's infection control practices
were hard to measure.
That's all changed now that the hospital implemented its electronic
reporting system, which captures defined data points for each patient
in the same places each time, so completed steps in the SSI-preven-
tion bundle and other key information are now seen in a timely fash-
ion.
"We found out we weren't as good as we thought we were," says
Ms. Mahabee-Betts.
Now, they have a clear way of making sure that what's supposed to
be getting done really is accomplished as they continue to move
toward zero post-op infections.
OSM
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