An R3 Report from The Joint Commission requires accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals to improve the safety of their clinical alarm systems.
The alarm National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG), which is being implemented in two phases, seeks to address “clinical alarms that can compromise patient safety if they are not properly managed,” according to the full report (launches PDF).
This includes alarms from a range of monitoring equipment, but not from items such as nurse call systems or alerts from computerized provider order entry.
The NPSG’s first phase will take effect January 1, 2014 and heightens awareness of the potential risks associated with clinical alarms. The second phase, effective January 1, 2016, introduces requirements to mitigate those risks.
