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Minnesota
Mayo Clinic Improves Patient Safety in 2013, Reports Record Low Adverse Health Events
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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Jan. 23, 2014 — The Minnesota Department of Health released its 10th annual Adverse Health Events report today and Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester reported only 29 events in 2013 — down from 38 in 2012. This decrease is primarily due to reductions in advanced-stage pressure ulcers and surgery-related events. Mayo's emphasis on pressure ulcer identification and prevention led to fewer pressure ulcer reports in 2013.The reporting system requires Minnesota hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report whenever one of 29 serious adverse events occurs and conduct a thorough analysis of causes. In 2013, the number of events reported statewide was 258. Data was collected from Oct. 6, 2012 through Oct. 7, 2013.
Journalists: Rochester campus b-roll is available in the downloads.
“The data reflect the high dedication of our nursing and medical teams, as well as our strong detection and reporting efforts,” says Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D., Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Patient Safety Officer in Rochester. “We are encouraged by these results and hope to see even further reductions in the coming year.”
“Each adverse event has a patient’s name with it, and, at Mayo, we have a laser like focus on the needs of our patients. We take every one of these (events) very seriously. So, even though we are glad for the improvements, we are not done yet. We aim to be consistently the safest place on the planet to be a patient,” says Dr. Morgenthaler.
Mayo Clinic employs all 115 best practices recommended by the Minnesota Hospital Association and received several Save Our Skin awards in 2013. Every Mayo care unit is staffed by nurses who are skilled at recognizing and responding to symptoms. When pressure ulcers are reported, Mayo teams thoroughly investigate to uncover causes and address them through systems improvements.
Mayo Clinic Health System also recorded fewer adverse health events in 2013. Mayo Clinic Health System locations in Albert Lea, Austin, Mankato and Springfield combined to report a total of 8 events, down from 12 events at Mayo Clinic Health System facilities in the 2012 report. Mayo Clinic Health System saw a reduction in the number of pressure ulcers reported from 2 in 2012 to none in 2013.
Learn more about the report and find a link to the full report on the Minnesota Department of Health website.
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About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nick Hanson, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu
