Safe medication management and use of narcotics in a Joint Commission International-accredited academic medical center hospital in the People's Republic of China.
Safe medication management and use of high-alert narcotics should arouse concern. Risk management experiences in this respect in a large-scale Joint Commission International (JCI)-accredited academic medical center hospital in the People's Republic of China during 2011-2015, focusing on organizational, educational, motivational, and information technological measures in storage, prescribing, preparing, dispensing, administration, and monitoring of medication are summarized. The intensity of use of meperidine in hospitalized patients in 2015 was one-fourth that in 2011. A 100% implementation rate of standard storage of narcotics has been achieved in the hospital since December 2012. A "Plan, Do, Check, Act" cycle was efficient because the ratio of number of inappropriate narcotics prescriptions to total number of narcotics prescriptions for inpatients decreased from August 2014 to December 2014 (28.22% versus 2.96%, P=0.0000), and it was controlled below 6% from then on. During the journey to good pain management ward accreditation by the Ministry of Health, People's Republic of China, (April 2012-October 2012), the medical oncology ward successfully demonstrated an increase in the pain screening rate at admission from 43.5% to 100%, cancer pain control rate from 85% to 96%, and degree of satisfaction toward pain nursing from 95.4% to 100% (all P-values <0.05). Oral morphine equivalent dosage in the good pain management ward increased from 2.3 mg/patient before June 2012 to 54.74 mg/patient in 2014. From 2011 to 2015, the oral morphine equivalent dose per discharged patient increased from 8.52 mg/person to 20.36 mg/person. A 100% implementation rate of independent double-check prior to narcotics dosing has been achieved since January 2013. From 2014 to 2015, the ratio of number of narcotics-related medication errors to number of discharged patients significantly decreased (6.95% versus 0.99%, P=0.0000). Taken together, continuous quality improvements have been achieved in safe medication management and use of narcotics by an integrated multidisciplinary collaboration during the journey to JCI accreditation and in the post-JCI accreditation era.
Office of Hospital Administration, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China; Office of Party and Administration Council, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Xu
X
Fang
Geriatric VIP Care Ward, Division of Nursing, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Ling-Ling
LL
Zhu
Division of Medical Administration, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Sheng-Dong
SD
Pan
Division of Medical Administration, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Ping
P
Xia
Department of Pharmacy, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Meng
M
Chen
Department of Pharmacy, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Quan
Q
Zhou
accreditation; medication errors; medication management; meperidine; morphine; narcotics; pain management; prescribing; quality improvements