ACS Endorses Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong-Site,
Wrong-Procedure, Wrong-Person Surgery™
On Tuesday, December 2, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations(JCAHO) announced widespread endorsement within the organized medical community for "a new Universal Protocol™ to standardize pre-surgery procedures for verifying the correct patient, the correct procedure, and the correct surgical site." The American College of Surgeons was a key player in developing the Universal Protocol and is one of 40 medical and health care organizations endorsing it. The Universal Protocol becomes effective on July 1, 2004, for all JCAHO-accredited hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and office-based surgery sites.
"The American College of Surgeons recognizes patient safety as being a matter of the highest priority," Thomas R. Russell, MD, FACS., Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons, says. "We strongly urge surgeons and all members of the surgical team, as well as individual hospitals and other health care organizations, to follow the standardized procedures outlined in the Universal Protocol. With all members of the surgical team following this protocol, we will have a zero tolerance policy in place and can totally eliminate wrong-patient, wrong-operation, and wrong-site surgery."
Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong-Site, Wrong-Procedure, Wrong-Person Surgery™