Half Empty?

Peter Pronovost and Robert Wachter, two leaders in patient safety and quality, question if we have improved over time in a recent edition of the American Journal of Medical Quality. Using the Global Trigger Tool (GTT), several recent studies have indicated an increase in patient harm, involving up to 1/3 of patients. Pronovost and Wachter counter there is evidence of progress after implementation of strategies such as team training, bar coding for medication administration, and infection prevention efforts. They note that the GTT has not been evaluated if it can measure improvements over time and suggest we still may not have an accurate tool for determining how much harm is done to our patients. It may be a while before we can say if the glass is half empty or half full.

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