Joint Commission Launches 'Targeted Solutions Tool' for Wrong-Site Surgery

The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare has announced it has launched its Targeted Solutions Tool for wrong-site surgery, according to a Joint Commission report.

The tool, which was piloted in eight facilities, guides organizations through a step-by-step process to identify, measure and reduce risks in key processes that can contribute to a wrong-site surgery.

"Wrong-site surgery is a rare event for individual surgeons or healthcare organizations. But when it does happen it is a devastating event that is often life altering for the patient who experiences it. We know wrong-site surgery should never happen, but the problem persists," said Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president, The Joint Commission, in the release. "Reducing the risk of wrong-site, wrong-procedure and wrong-patient surgery is critical to patient safety and the reputation of any healthcare organization that performs invasive procedures. The Targeted Solutions Tool offers organizations a straightforward approach to identifying and eliminating risks of wrong-site surgery in all phases of the process of surgery, from scheduling to the operating room."

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The tool is available to Joint Commission-accredited organizations.

To view a video on using the Targeted Solutions Tool, click here.

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