The Joint Commission International (JCI) developed the International Patient Safety Goals
(IPSG) in 2006. Patient safety is one of the Joint Commission’s top concerns, and it has
developed safety regulations for hospitals and health clinics in order to prevent deaths caused
by human error. The goal is to maintain excellent patient care standards while also addressing
existing healthcare system flaws.
As per the WHO data
● The occurrence of adverse events due to unsafe care is likely 1 of the 10 leading
causes of death and disability in the world.
● In high-income countries, it is estimated that 1 in every 10 patients is harmed while
receiving hospital care. The harm can be caused by a range of adverse events, with
nearly 50% of them being preventable.
● Each year, 134 million adverse events occur in hospitals in low- and middle-income
countries (LMICs), due to unsafe care, resulting in 2.6 million deaths.
● Globally, as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and outpatient health
care. Up to 80% of harm is preventable.
To Improve Healthcare Globally we need to emphasize current healthcare quality and must
implement the essential changes…
Impact of the six goals of the International Patient Safety Goals(IPSG)
IPSG One – Identify Patients Correctly
Goal One is to correctly identify patients and ensure that all patients receive the best possible
care. This includes ensuring that doctors provide patients with the correct diagnosis or
healthcare facility for their illness, whether it is intricate or simple.
Authorities should employ two patient identifiers while excluding the patient’s room or location
within the Medical facility as a whole. Before administering any medication, withdrawing blood,
or collecting other samples for clinical purposes, the full name of the patient, the UHID number,
and any other required detail should be taken to ensure that all patient details are correct.
IPSG Two – Improve Effective Communication
Goal Two focuses on implementing critical changes in healthcare strategies, including
improvements in effective communication. The goal is essential for Healthcare Quality
Improvement, with the main objective of identifying failures in improved communication and
implementing improvements to meet JCI Accreditation standards. The ultimate outcome would
aim at reducing medical errors caused by ineffective communication between patients and
healthcare providers. The ISBAR technique outlined below should be used in all staff
communications.
● Identify yourself as well as the patient.
● What is the Situation, and what is the issue?
● Background information to contextualize the problem.
● Assessment, clinical evaluation, and prediction.
● Recommendation, what you think might take place.
IPSG Three – Improve the Safety of High-Alert Medications
The kingpin of goal Three is to build on patient safety when administering high-alert medicines
around the world. High-alert medications are those that, even when used correctly, are most
likely to cause significant patient harm. Although any medication, when used incorrectly, can
cause harm, high-alert medications cause harm more frequently, and the harm they cause is
likely to be more serious, resulting in patient suffering and additional costs associated with
their care. Some antibiotics, anticoagulants, cardiac medications, chemotherapeutic agents,
and other medications are classified as very high risk. The intention is to improve the safety of
these medications by implementing critical changes in healthcare practices.
The JCI created this IPSG as an addition to the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML). It provides
healthcare providers and stakeholders with guidelines on how to improve the safety of
high-alert drugs.
Strategies may include:
● Creating consistency in ordering, storage, preparation, and administration of these
medications
● Improving access to Drug Information
● Restriction of access to high-alert medications
● Auxiliary labels and automated alerts are used.
● Making use of redundancies
IPSG Four – Ensure Safe Surgery
The objective of the fourth goal is to evaluate all surgical procedures prior to performing them
in order to ensure that they are specified for patients with a variety of requirements based on
different factors before they are performed.
This goal would necessitate an organization to review and ensure that procedures are written
for patients with varying needs such as age, weight, height, and other factors that may affect
the surgery. Before each surgery, these procedures should be double-checked for accuracy. For
ensuring, one must go through the WHO surgical checklist.
IPSG Goal Five – To ensure that the risk of healthcare-associated infections is reduced
When it comes to goal Five, its main focus is to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated
infections. Patients who use medical devices (central lines, urinary catheters, ventilators) or
have surgical procedures are at risk of contracting HAIs. Though HAIs are still a major problem
today, a vast majority of them are avoidable. Because of legislative, regulatory, and
organizational incentives, the prevention and management of HAIs have advanced significantly
over the last decade. However, these changes have not bridged the gap between evidence-based
and clinical practice, particularly in terms of behavioral change among healthcare workers.
Hand hygiene, Environmental surveillance, Screening & cohorting of patients, Effective
antibiotic stewardship program and adhering to the guidelines of infection control and patient
safety are the most important factors to consider. Critical changes in healthcare services can
improve quality and reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. The World Health
Organization recommends using an alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene across the
healthcare facility. Implementing essential changes in healthcare practices can bring about
quality improvement and reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
IPSG Goal Six -Reduce the possibility of patient harm as a result of falls.
Goal six implements a process for assessing, reassessing, and monitoring patients for fall risk
when their condition or medications change. The most common safety event associated with
patient harm is a fall. When a patient arrives at the hospital, the first and most important thing
that is done is an initial assessment of the patient, and if the patient is determined to be at risk
of falling, a reassessment is performed. By sharing the guidelines and safety protocols with
them, measures are put in place to reduce the risk of a fall. For example, telling them not to
move alone and that they can contact the hospital staff if needed. Patients who have been
assessed as having a fall risk are also monitored regularly.
Falls are a leading cause of unintentional death in many parts of the world. Implementing
critical changes in healthcare practices can help improve patient safety and minimize the risks
as a result of falls. The Morse Fall Scale (MFS), a quick and easy way to determine a patient’s
risk of falling, can be used to prevent incidents like this from occurring.
In conclusion, the current study shows that tertiary care settings have a reasonable
understanding of IPSG features; however, additional research is needed to improve quality and
patient safety. The goal is to maintain high standards of patient care while also fixing
weaknesses in the healthcare system. JCI works to ensure a safe healthcare environment for
patients in hospitals and clinics by conducting regular surveys, developing new standards, and
ensuring compliance with safety legislation
