Patient Safety
Initiatives
The Center for Patient Safety has four priority areas. Each area reflects a strong interest in and commitment to the role that patients can play in creating safe care.
Medication safety
Medication errors are the most common source of medical injury, and a special hazard in cancer care. The Center supports the longstanding, institute-wide commitment to medication safety.
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Medication reconciliation
Medication reconciliation is the process of verifying a patient's current medications. Dana-Farber has a novel system, in which patients play a key role. Learn about the results of the first full year of the program. read more
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Safe prescribing practices
Commonly used abbreviations in drug prescriptions can be confusing to nurses and pharmacists and lead to mistakes. A task force from Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital developed new standards and procedures to eliminate unapproved abbreviations in hand-written records and communications. Read the Medical abbreviations policy document that includes guidelines for the use of abbreviations.
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Medication safety information
Center staff developed a brochure to help Dana-Farber patients use medications safely and avoid drug reactions during their treatment. The brochure includes a form to list medications, allergies, and emergency contacts. View the web version and links to PDFs
Communication and teamwork
High-risk work environments require precise teamwork and high levels of performance. The teamwork and communication strategies of industries like aviation and nuclear power offer lessons for the medical workplace.
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Teamwork training for patients
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute supports the role of patients as members of their healthcare team. The Center for Patient Safety developed a campaign to help patients learn the communication skills used by successful teams in high-performance industries. Nursing staff and patients contributed to the design of the curriculum and educational materials. View examples of the You CAN communication training materials.
Diagnostic errors
Missed and delayed diagnoses are a serious issue in cancer care. In addition, prompt diagnosis of treatment-related symptoms can relieve suffering. Read about Dana-Farber’s work on missed and delayed diagnoses and pain assessment.
Infection control
In collaboration with partners in Dana-Farber Infection Control, the Center supports initiatives to reduce the spread of infection. Read about our hand hygiene initiatives.
