Joint Commission urges 'zero-defect' approach

When your airplane stops working in mid-flight, or a nuclear plant experiences a meltdown, it's more than a problem, it's a catastrophe. Leaders in these industries use what's known as a "zero-defect" approach to keep catastrophic events from taking place--and healthcare leaders should too, according to a new alert from the Joint Commission.

In its new Sentinel Event Alert, the Commission is suggesting that healthcare leaders build an overall culture of safety and effectiveness. To do so, facilities must win greater involvement of trustees, executives and physician leaders, the group suggests. "In safe organizations, safety is rooted in the culture and the system, rather than the behavior of individuals," the Joint Commission said this week in its press statement.

To help build this culture of safety, the Alert suggests that trustees, senior executives and medical staff leaders take a total of 14 steps, including establishing a safety culture that includes a code of conduct; making an organization's overall safety performance a key, measurable part of the senior leadership team's evaluation; creating a policy that sets specific standards for behaviors that can be referred for disciplinary action, as well as setting a timeframe for that action to take place; and rewarding staff whose efforts contribute to safety.

To learn more about the new Alert:
- read this Joint Commission press release

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