Patient Safety

Patient safety is defined as "freedom from accidental or preventable injuries produced by medical care.*" As New Hampshire's only Joint Commission accredited Critical Access Hospital, our strategy is to focus on the National Patient Safety Goals to prevent patient harm. These goals identify specific areas of concerns around patient safety and we are actively working on implementing, monitoring and improving safety in the following areas:

• Patient identification
• Accurate communication among caregivers
• Medication safety when prescribing, dispensing, and administering
• Infection prevention
• Maintaining up to date patient medication lists
• Preventing falls
• Recognizing early signs of patient decline and responding rapidly
• Correct site surgery

View this information: 2009 Patient Safety Goals for Critical Access Hospitals

*Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Patient Safety Network