Quality and Safety

Patient Safety is Important to Us

When you are a patient at Atlantic General Hospital, we want you to receive the best and safest care available anywhere. Your safety is the top priority at all levels of our organization, including management, physicians and staff.

• All physicians at our hospital are board certified and complete continuing education requirements each year.
• For medication safety, we double-check to make sure you receive the right medication, the right dose, with the right method at the right time. Please ask your physician, your nurse or another staff member if you have questions about your medication.
• We recommend you have a family member or friend with you during your health care visits. Not only can they provide comfort and support, they can also help you ask questions and take notes. There are cards available during your stay to
• We recommend that every person in our community have a FILE of LIFE completed. The File of Life contains your medical history and a current up to date list of medications so when an emergency arises, the information can be easily accessed by a healthcare provider. The information can also be helpful for routine physician visits. Go to File of Life for more information.

Patient Safety Focus Areas

When you are a patient at Atlantic General Hospital, the following policies will ensure your safety:

Safe Surgery

• Policy and procedure ensure that the correct site is operated on and the correct procedure done
• Patient or family member is asked to verify the patient's name, date of birth and procedure
• Consent form states the procedure and site, when indicated
• Site is marked by doctor or nurse
• Doctor confirms procedure, site and patient before beginning
• A “time out” occurs to confirm patient, procedure and site before beginning surgery or procedure

Patient Identification

• Policy and procedure ensure accurate identification of patients before giving medication or blood products, before taking blood samples, or before surgery or other invasive procedure:
• Use at least two unique identifiers (name and date of birth) to establish a patient's identification
• Verify identification by asking the patient to state their full name and date of birth
• Check of the patient's ID band

Medication Safety

• We have eliminated the use of certain abbreviations and are discouraging the use of others.
• For verbal orders, policy requires that the person receiving the order to first write the order as they hear it and then read back the complete order for verification