Quality & Patient Satisfaction

Hospital Patient Safety in Rhode Island

Patient safety is our utmost concern at South County Hospital, and creating an all-encompassing culture of safety for our patients an ongoing priority.

2007 National Patient Safety Goals
South County Hospital supports the 2007 patient safety goals developed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's predominant standard-setting accrediting body in health care.

  • Improve the accuracy of patient identification.
  • Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers.
  • Improve the safety of using medications.
  • Reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
  • Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care.
  • Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls.
  • Encourage patients' active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy.
  • The organization identifies safety risks inherent in its patient population.

Protecting 5 Million Lives Campaign In keeping with our focus on patient safety goals, South County Hospital is also participating in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Protecting 5 Million Lives Campaign, which challenges hospitals to adopt the following 12 interventions. South County Hospital has adopted each of the 12 recommended interventions.

  • Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection by reliably implementing scientifically proven infection control practices throughout the hospital.
  • Reduce harm from high-alert medications starting with a focus on anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin.
  • Reduce surgical complications by reliably implementing the changes in care recommended by the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP).
  • Prevent pressure ulcers by reliably using science-based guidelines for prevention of this serious and common complication.
  • Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for congestive heart failure to reduce readmissions.
  • Get Boards on board by defining and spreading new and leveraged processes for hospital Boards of Trustees, so that they can become far more effective in accelerating the improvement of care.
  • Deploy Rapid Response Teams at the first sign of patient decline - and before a catastrophic cardiac or respiratory event
  • Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for acute myocardial infraction to prevent deaths from heart attack.
  • Prevent adverse drug events by reconciling patient medications at every transition point in care.
  • Prevent central line infections by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.
  • Prevent surgical site infections by following a series of steps, including reliable, timely administration of correct perioperative antibiotics.
  • Prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.

To learn more
We invite you to learn more about quality at South County Hospital. As always, we welcome your comments and questions. For more information, contact Elaine Desmarais, Vice President of Quality Improvement, at 401-782-8000 or edesmarais@schospital.com.