Penn Medicine is on a journey to become a high reliability organization (HRO).
High reliability in healthcare is the gold standard of safety, where every member of the team works hard to make sure every patient, their families, and the healthcare team stays safe.
Penn Medicine as a high reliability organization
HROs are dedicated to using proven processes to make sure things go smoothly, even in complex situations.
They are relentless in stopping medication errors, mix-ups in patient information, infections, falls, and injuries before they happen. And, when something unexpected does occur, HROs address issues quickly and learn from them to make things even better.
Being an HRO means fewer mistakes, better outcomes for patients, and an overall safer place to be cared for and to work.
High reliability processes at Penn Medicine
A few examples of highly reliable processes we follow are:
- safe medication practices
- patient identification
- preventing infections
- preventing falls
- preventing pressure injuries
Infection prevention: How does Penn Medicine perform?
To be more transparent about how Penn Medicine is performing compared with health systems across the country, we will regularly share reports on infection rates in our hospitals.
The information below shows how Penn Medicine performed as a health system compared with the national average in preventing central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).
When reporting on infections, we use the Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR).
What is the Standardized Infection Ratio?
The SIR is a score used to track infections in a country, a state, or a smaller local area over time. This score compares the actual number of infections that happened to the number of infections that were expected to happen. Using SIR allows us to better compare our performance with that of other hospitals and health systems.
SIRs below 1 mean that the actual number of infections was lower than what was expected, while values above 1 mean that the actual number of infections was higher than expected. A lower number is better because it means fewer infections.
Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI)
CLABSI happens when bacteria or germs get into a patient’s central line and then move to their bloodstream. Central lines are catheters that are placed into a large vein, typically in the neck, arms, or groin.
Penn Medicine helps prevent CLABSIs in several ways, including following guidelines to place central lines in a sterile manner, maintaining the lines, and removing central lines as soon as they are not needed.
Use the drop down below to see how each of Penn Medicine’s six hospitals compare to national benchmarks from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
Chester County Hospital
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Pennsylvania Hospital
Lancaster General Hospital
Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center
Chester County Hospital
Central line-associated blood stream infections, Standardized Infection Ratio
A lower number is better because it means fewer infections.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
Urinary tract infections are among the most common infections in healthcare, and about 75 percent of UTIs are CAUTIs.
The risk of CAUTI increases when a urinary catheter is used for longer periods of time. To prevent CAUTIs, Penn Medicine uses catheters only in appropriate situations and removes them when they are no longer needed.
Use the drop down below to see how each of Penn Medicine’s six hospitals compare to national benchmarks from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
Chester County Hospital
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Pennsylvania Hospital
Lancaster General Hospital
Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center
Chester County Hospital
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections, Standardized Infection Ratio
A lower number is better because it means fewer infections.
Patient falls with injury: How does Penn Medicine perform?
Falls are among the most common negative events that can happen to patients in the hospital. If a fall causes an injury, it can also increase a patient’s length of stay in the hospital and their risk of complications or death, especially in older adults.
Penn Medicine is dedicated to preventing patient falls and the injuries that can come with them.
We provide resources to patients to help avoid falls, including:
- a Tai Chi program for patients with fall-related fractures before they are discharged from the hospital
- many patient education options in MyChart by myPennMedicine that can be tailored to an individual patient’s needs
Penn Medicine consistently performs better than national benchmarks for patient falls with injury. The information below shows how Penn Medicine performed as a health system compared to national benchmarks from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI).
Penn Medicine
Patient falls with injury
Rate of falls with injuries per 1,000 days of hospitalization
Patient falls with injury
A lower number is better because it means fewer falls with injury.
Partnering with patients for their safety
We are focused on providing the safest and most equitable care and an exceptional experience for our patients, families, and staff. Our Code of Conduct highlights our commitment to maintaining a safe, respectful and dignified environment for all.
We welcome help from patients and their loved ones so that we can quickly improve our care processes when things do not go as expected.
Here are some ways you can participate:
- Speak up when you don’t understand something or have questions about your care.
- Let us know what medications and supplements you are taking.
- Make sure your care team checks your name and birthday before any procedure or surgery.
- Take important steps to prevent infections, including washing your hands regularly.
- Follow fall prevention strategies that we have in place to keep you safe.
- Tell us if you see or experience any unsafe practices or have any concerns.