DKH nets

'0 adverse

events'

PUTNAM — A recently released report from the CT Department of Public Health (DPH) that provides information about adverse events at the state’s hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities shows that there were zero adverse events for patients at Day Kimball Hospital in 2015. Day Kimball is one of just two acute care hospitals in the state to have zero adverse events that year. This also marks the second consecutive year that Day Kimball Hospital has attained this achievement; it was the only hospital in the state with zero adverse events in 2014.

The report, DPH’s Adverse Event Reporting document, covers all adverse events reported in 2015. An adverse event is a reportable incident that caused harm to a patient, such as bed sores, falls, perforations or errors occurring during surgery, and other events. DPH releases this report annually.

Hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities are required to report adverse events to DPH using the National Quality Forum list of Serious Reportable Events in Healthcare, plus additional events as defined by DPH. According to DPH, items on the list are of concern to both the public and healthcare professionals, are clearly identifiable and measurable, and are often, though not always, preventable.

“Providing the best and safest care possible is of course the goal of every healthcare organization, and one that requires constant vigilance. We’re extremely proud of the exceptional teamwork and skill of our staff here at Day Kimball. This has allowed our hospital to be one of the very few to achieve zero adverse events for the last two years” said DKH Chief Medical Officer and VP, Medical Affairs and Quality Dr. John Graham.

Dr. Graham continued, “However, it’s important to note that reports such as this are just a snapshot of one particular point in time. Providing the highest quality, safest care possible is not a goal that has an end-point. This requires constant vigilance and even then sometimes things happen that are not preventable.  We don’t live in a perfect world but it’s our job to provide care that’s as close to perfect as it can be. We do that by constantly evaluating our quality performance and safety procedures, learning from what we find and using that knowledge for continual process and performance improvement.”

The Adverse Event Reporting document is one of several reports produced by DPH as part of the state’s Quality in Health Care program, which was developed to measure the clinical performance of health care facilities and to develop systems for those facilities to share best practices. To learn more about the Quality in Health Care program and the Adverse Event Reporting document, visit www.ct.gov/dph. To learn more about Day Kimball Hospital, visit www.daykimball.org.