Safety First, Foremost and Always 

The eMAR system uses barcode technology to ensure that patients receive the right medication at the right time in the right does by the right method.

In a December 1999 report entitled “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” the Institutes of Medicine estimated that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year from medical errors and that those errors cost U.S. hospitals between $8.5 billion and $14.5 billion each year. That report triggered significant action by HCA, beginning in February of 2000, with a system-wide, in-depth analysis of our safety record and initiatives. Based on that analysis, HCA set patient safety as an organizational imperative and established these four priorities: 

• Ensure that our patient safety agenda reinforces our Putting Patients First philosophy
• Move from blaming people to improving processes
• Improve the use of technology to prevent and detect errors
• Use data to identify and measure improvements

After identifying opportunities for improvement, the company organized teams of clinical experts and healthcare managers from facilities across the country and charged them with raising the bar on patient safety.  As new patient safety initiatives were created, they were piloted in individual hospitals and, when perfected, rolled out to all HCA hospitals.

The result: HCA now has implemented or is implementing multiple evidence-based patient safety programs.  While much progress has already been made, we remain focused on continuous improvement. 

• Learn about HCA's Medication Safety initiatives here.  
• Learn about our Perinatal Safety (Healthy Moms and Babies) program.  
• Meet Jonathan Perlin, MD, HCA's Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Quality, here.