Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare

Export selected to

Endnote

Reference Manager

Procite

Medlars Format

RefWorks Format

BibTex Format

Background: Challenges related to access to cancer medications is an increasing global problem that has far-reaching impact on patients and healthcare systems. In this article, we are enlisting suggested solutions at the hospital or practice level to maximize the access to these important treatment modalities. Methods: An expert panel of practicing oncologists, clinical pharmacists, and health economists convened using a framework approach. The panelists identified individuals and entities that impact the use of cancer therapeutics and how they can improve the utilization and access to them. They enlisted the potential actions that hospital management and staff can take to enhance access to cancer therapeutics, then they grouped them into specific categories. Results: List of potential strategies and related action items were compiled into different categories including hospital leadership, drug evaluation entities, pharmacy, physicians, patients and families, and other parties. Recommendations included various actions to be considered by each group to achieve set goals. Conclusion: Our expert panel recommend multiple strategies and approaches to reduce the cost of cancer medications and improve patients' access to them. These recommendations can be adapted by the decision-makers and staff of the hospitals to their own settings and the current circumstances.

Occupational health is a sensitive area in many developing countries where occupational exposure needs attention due to lack of awareness among industrialists as well as workers. Industries such as iron, textile, leather, and paper use a vast number of toxic chemicals during different industrial processes. Workers of these industries come in direct contact with these chemicals including dyes, solvents, and finishers, which are known to be mutagenic and genotoxic. In the absence of risk assessment programs, these chemicals pose serious health risks. Risk management is one of the key factors in health safety of the workers. Agencies of central, state, and local levels need to work harder in the field of occupational health and safety. These agencies should develop relevant risk assessment programs to minimize the exposure health impacts. In the present article, various exposure risks to workers of different industries including iron, textile, leather, and paper industry along with levels of risk management system and the need for regular health assessment programs have been discussed to put them into real practice.

Objective: Blood culture is an important laboratory test to determine bacteremia in Fungemia in patient's blood. Frequent blood culture contamination (BCC) leads to unnecessary treatment, waste of laboratory resources, and false-positive blood culture. The College of American Pathologist Accreditation states that monitoring of BCC rate should be within average 2%–3%. Based on May 2015 to May 2016 data at King Khalid University Hospital, it showed that we had experienced a consistent increase in BCC rate with an average of 4.6%. Emergency department (ED) had the highest contamination rate (5.7%). The aim of this study was to reduce the rate of contamination to <2%. Methods: A multidisciplinary quality team has been formed, (IHI) the institute for healthcare improvement model, used for improvement and other relevant quality tools for testing and implementing the choice of solution. Several plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles have been conducted to test the proposed solutions. All PDSA cycle data on the project measures were extracted from the lab information system to be analyzed and presented on run and control charts. Results: Over a 6-month period, a reduction in the BCC rate at the emergency department (ED) of the University Hospital reached 1.5% compared with the baseline at 4.0%. There was a significant reduction in BCC in the adult ED, which reached zero rates. However, BCC in the pediatrics ED was reduced to 1.5%, resulting from changes that were proposed, tested, and implemented during the running period. Essentially, the results of this initiative both met and exceeded the benchmark by 2%–3%. Conclusion: Standardizing work processes based on updated policy and procedures, conducting regular audits, and sending feedback are practical evidence-based strategies that lead to reducing BCC in the ED.

Online since 3^rd November 2017.