Patient Safety Council

The Seminole County Patient Safety Council was created as a way for Seminole County healthcare providers to be able to discuss and coordinate patient safety efforts county-wide.   

Participants:

  • Central Florida Regional Hospital
  • Florida Hospital-Altamonte
  • South Seminole Hospital-ORH
  • Seminole County Emergency Services
  • The Seminole County Medical Society
  • The SCMS Alliance
  • The Seminole County Health Department
  • The University of Central Florida
  • The Florida Health Care Coalition
  • Patient representatives

Safetycouncil
                The first Patient Safety Council meeting - 8/16/06

The Council Agenda:

The Council plans to play a role in:

Improving communication – letting organizations know what patient safety areas other organizations are addressing; and be a resource for patient safety information.

Comparing efforts – on the various patient safety initiatives being done by each entity.  The goal is for the Council to be a source of the “best practices” on initiatives - from which all entities can learn.

Coordinating efforts - on certain patient safety initiatives; hopefully reducing duplication of efforts, or unnecessary differences in the way initiatives are handled by organizations.

Encouraging cooperation – potentially creating an overall patient safety agenda among all entities; and eventually their parent organizations.

Raising new initiatives for consideration – to be worked on at the same time by all Seminole County organizations.

Promoting new patient safety research – directed by the University of Central Florida.

Challenging all organizations - to make sure safe patient care always remains a high priority.

-P1010004
Joanne Barnett of Central Florida Regional Hospital
discusses techniques used to combat MRSA at the
recent August 2009 Patient Safety Council Meeting.

Council Meeting Minutes & Contact List:

Contact List - 2/3/10

SCPSC Meeting - 2/3/10

SCPSC Meeting - 8/26/09

SCPSC Meeting - 4/22/09

SCPSC Meeting - 2/4/09

SCPSC Meeting - 10/15/08

SCPSC Meeting - 8/6/08

To access the power point presentation on "Changing Perspectives in Operating Room Safety" given by Stephen Knych, MD, click here. 

For additional information on TeamSTEPPS on the AHRQ website, click here (note: the name TeamSTEPPS is trademarked, although the training is publically available.  A CD and a pocket guide are available for free through the AHRQ website, and the entire training program is available for $12 per copy).

SCPSC Meeting - 6/4/08

SCPSC Meeting - 3/26/08

SCPSC Meeting - 1/7/2007

SCPSC Executive Committee Meeting - 11/6/2006

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Adopted Council Initiatives:

Improving Health Literacy - Medical errors can occur when patients do not understand their medical information.  Over the last few months the Patient Safety Council distributed information to Seminole County physician offices, hospitals, and the Health Department to 1) educate physicians that a high percentage of patients may not understand their instructions, and 2) encourage patients who do not understand to let their physician know.  Click here for more information about the Improving Health Literacy project.

Legible Handwriting - Recent effort to make sure orders are written or communicated in a clear and legible manner do not address errors that occur when progress notes are illegible.  It is expected that this problem will be solved when all hospital records are computerized. However, since the three Seminole County hospitals do not plan for daily progress notes to be computerized in the near future, the Council made handwriting legibility for daily progress notes a top priority.  Click here for more information.

Disaster Preparedness Coordination - The Council's Disaster Preparedness Committee is bringing together representatives of the Seminole County Medical Society, the three Seminole County hospitals, the Seminole County Health Department, and Seminole County Emergency Services to improve the coordination of physician services in the event of a major disaster.

The Seminole County MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus) Project - to improve recognition and handling MRSA county-wide.  For information on the Project, click here.  To read the 9/28/07 MRSA Committee Report, click here .  For information about MRSA, click here.

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Potential future Council projects:

   Several projects are being considered for future Council attention, including:

  • A uniform approach to medication reconciliation
  • New patient safety research
  • Looking at nursing ratios
  • Looking at additional ways to improve communication
  • Team training

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The structure of the Council:

Overall:  Seminole County Medical Society Foundation is the holding and coordinating entity of the Council.

Meetings: The Council meets four times a year.  The time and place for the next Council meeting (in 2009) will be announced soon.

Coordination:  Dr. John Robertson, President of the SCMS Foundation, is the Chair of the Council.  The Executive Director of the SCMS Foundation oversees the administrative functions of the Council

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August 24, 2006 in Council |

PATIENT SAFETY NEWS

  • Patient Safety in Seminole County magazine includes articles from the Seminole County Patient Safety Summit speakers. Click on the cover to download the Magazine (3.8MB PDF).
  • Improving Health Literacy materials are reviewed by Celeste Stevens and Gerri Hove at the office of Dr. Cecil Wilson, current President of the American Medical Association. Click picture to enlarge.
  • This advertisement was placed in the June 7th edition of the Orlando Sentinel, to let patients know about the "Ask Me 3" program, and the Seminole County "Improving Health Literacy" project. Click to enlarge.
  • The Ask Me 3 program features patient brochures and posters that can be placed in the office. Click on poster to enlarge.