After an Institute of Medicine Report, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” said that as many as 98,000 people a year died from medical errors that occurred in hospitals, Atlanta hospitals have been on a journey toward greater patient safety, according to an article on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.

Many hospital safety specialists have borrowed high-reliability principles from other risk-laden industries such as nuclear energy and the airlines. 

“If you assume errors will happen, and look where they can happen, then improve those processes, you’re more likely to prevent errors,” said Nancy Curdy, director of patient safety, reliability and infection prevention at DeKalb Medical.

WellStar Paulding Hospital was designed with patient safety in mind. “We designed the rooms to keep clutter down to reduce falls and chose non-skid flooring to reduce fall injuries,” said Vickie Hogue, vice president of patient services. 

“Bedside rails light up at night and hand-sanitizers are equipped with radio-frequency chips to monitor hand hygiene,” she said. An ultra-violet light device is used to clean hospital rooms, adding an extra layer of safety to the decontamination process.

Read the article.