Medication Safety Self Assessment

In early May, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) mailed to all hospital pharmacy directors a comprehensive tool to help assess the safety aspects of a facility's medication delivery system.

The ISMP Medication Safety Self Assessment is a substantive, detailed road map. It will take leadership, time, and a committed hospital team to put it to proper use. But, the results should be invaluable for strengthening safety systems and giving physicians, nurses, and other caregivers the ability to improve and respond to questions about medication safety from the board, medical staff, community, and others.

In addition to identifying opportunities for improvement, the ISMP's self assessment presents the opportunity to become part of a confidential national data base for potential benchmarking, and to track the progress of the field in adopting safe medication practices.

By returning the assessment data to ISMP (by the July 31 deadline), each facility will receive a weighted numerical score. That score will enable facilities to compare their data more appropriately with other organizations participating in the benchmarking study.

AARP Study Shows Unhealthy Arkansas

Add AARP-formerly the American Association for Retired Persons-to the growing list of organizations that find Arkansas one of the nation's least healthy states. An AARP study confirms that people who live in Arkansas are more likely to die from heart attack or stroke than those who live in about any other state. The study shows Arkansans also have a high mortality rate from cancer and diabetes.

Dr. David Bourne, medical director for the Arkansas Department of Health, attributes the high death rates to poor health habits, including diets high in fat, too many people who smoke, and too few who exercise regularly.

Bourne notes that Arkansas is well-covered with good doctors and good hospitals, but that an unusually high percent of patients being treated suffer from chronic diseases that are difficult to manage and almost impossible to cure. The report is based on 1997 data from government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Comparative Financial Indicators, Community Hospitals, by State - Click Here for chart

Indicators Per 1,000 Population - Click Here for chart

AHA Workers' Comp Dividends

The Arkansas Hospital Association (AHA) Workers' Compensation Program, which is administered through The Virginia Insurance Reciprocal (TVIR), has distributed another set of dividend checks to its participating hospitals. When the former AHA Workers' Compensation Self-Insured Trust merged with TVIR last year, it was agreed that a dividend in the amount of $1,571,347 would be returned to participating hospitals in two installments.

The first installment of $785,674 was distributed December 20, 1999. The total amount for the most recent distribution was $785,673. Currently 36 Arkansas hospitals and the AHA participate in the program, which grows more successful each year