German Coalition for Patient Safety
Encyclopedia
The German Coalition for Patient Safety (APS) - in German "Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit (APS)", established in 2005 and located in Bonn
is a German non-profit asssociation of organisations and individuals interested and involved in promotion of patient safety
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APS collaborates with professional and consumer associations, with societies, insurance organizations, self-governmental bodies, and research institutions. The Federal Ministry of Health is one of the organization's sponsors. APS acting together with the German Agency for Quality in Medicine
is a Lead Technical Agency of the international High 5 Project.
Based on international protocols four actions to prevent wrong-site surgery were defined: (1) asking the patient about his identity and the planned intervention, (2) marking the operation site with an indelible pen, (3) ensuring that the right patient is brought to the operating room, and (4) a “team timeout” of the operating team immediately before the intervention.
Recommendation for establishing critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) in hospitals
CIRS are voluntary reporting systems for hospital staff. Their purpose is to discover unsafe practices and to initiate safety measures before patients are harmed. APS published recommendations on how to establish CIRS in hospitals, and is partner of the German Hospital CIRS Network.
Checklist for medication safety in hospitals
A checklist with a graduated scheme to measure medication safety was published as a tool for any hospital to review common activities and projects to improve medication safety.
Medication list for patients
At the time of drug prescription doctors often do not have full information about all drugs taken by the patient. This provokes the incalculable risk of unwanted drug interactions and adverse events. APS therefore published a schedule for patients to list their medications.
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
is a German non-profit asssociation of organisations and individuals interested and involved in promotion of patient safety
Patient safety
Patient safety is a new healthcare discipline that emphasizes the reporting, analysis, and prevention of medical error that often leads to adverse healthcare events. The frequency and magnitude of avoidable adverse patient events was not well known until the 1990s, when multiple countries reported...
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Activities
APS' multidisciplinary working groups develop recommendations for patient safety activities in in- and outpatient healthcare institutions. The recommendations are available as open-access documents and distributed in healthcare institutions for free.APS collaborates with professional and consumer associations, with societies, insurance organizations, self-governmental bodies, and research institutions. The Federal Ministry of Health is one of the organization's sponsors. APS acting together with the German Agency for Quality in Medicine
German Agency for Quality in Medicine
The German Agency for Quality in Medicine - in German "Ärztliches Zentrum für Qualität in der Medizin ", established in 1995 and located in Berlin co-ordinates healthcare quality programmes with special focus on evidence-based medicine, medical guidelines, patient empowerment, patient safety...
is a Lead Technical Agency of the international High 5 Project.
Selected Projects
Recommendation for preventing wrong site surgeryBased on international protocols four actions to prevent wrong-site surgery were defined: (1) asking the patient about his identity and the planned intervention, (2) marking the operation site with an indelible pen, (3) ensuring that the right patient is brought to the operating room, and (4) a “team timeout” of the operating team immediately before the intervention.
Recommendation for establishing critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) in hospitals
CIRS are voluntary reporting systems for hospital staff. Their purpose is to discover unsafe practices and to initiate safety measures before patients are harmed. APS published recommendations on how to establish CIRS in hospitals, and is partner of the German Hospital CIRS Network.
Checklist for medication safety in hospitals
A checklist with a graduated scheme to measure medication safety was published as a tool for any hospital to review common activities and projects to improve medication safety.
Medication list for patients
At the time of drug prescription doctors often do not have full information about all drugs taken by the patient. This provokes the incalculable risk of unwanted drug interactions and adverse events. APS therefore published a schedule for patients to list their medications.