Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) National Patient Safety Goals

item # our brief description our category our code
1 Use at least two patient identifiers (neither to be the patient's room number... safe practices npsg1a
2 For verbal or telephone orders or for telephonic reporting of critical test r... safe practices npsg2a
3 Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that are not to be ... safe practices npsg2b
4 Measure, assess and, if appropriate, take action to improve the timeliness of... safe practices npsg2c
5 Implement a standardized approach to "hand off" communications, including an ... safe practices npsg2e
6 Standardize and limit the number of drug concentrations available in the orga... safe practices npsg3b
7 Identify and, at a minimum, annually review a list of look-alike/sound-alike ... safe practices npsg3c
8 Label all medications, medication containers (e.g., syringes, medicine cups, ... safe practices npsg3d
9 Comply with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hand hyg... safe practices npsg7a
10 Manage as sentinel events all identified cases of unanticipated death or majo... safe practices npsg7b
11 Implement a process for obtaining and documenting a complete list of the pati... safe practices npsg8a
12 A complete list of the patient's medications is communicated to the next prov... safe practices npsg8b
13 Implement a fall reduction program and evaluate the effectiveness of the prog... safe practices npsg9b

NOTES:

  • Some indicators appear on more than one list.
  • Area rates apply to geographic areas, not to hospitals.
  • The Kentucky rates in our report are area rates.