November 2008 Notes from Asia-Pacific

Writing you from Singapore…Priority One: Patient Safety 

“Above all, do no harm.” For centuries, this phrase from the Hippocratic Oath has guided physicians in treating and caring for their patients.  Though there isn’t a universal oath for all hospital management and staff, there is a common priority that we all live by:  above all, the patient comes first.

Patient safety is my top priority.  I have a deep passion for helping health care organizations enrich patient safety within their hospitals. As managing director of JCI’s Asia-Pacific office, located in Singapore, I have had quite a journey working at both the hospital and regulatory levels.  During this journey, I have discovered some interesting trends and had some insightful experiences that I would like to share with you each month. 

My next piece will focus on the Hospital Management Asia 2008 conference in Manila in the Philippines, which happened last month.  Following, there are three common issues with medical records that hospitals are facing within the Asia-Pacific region.  JCI has some best practices to help your hospital avoid possible pitfalls. 

Two more issue-areas worth exploring include health care worker fatigue and medication management.  Specifically for medication management, many patients, who are taking traditional medicines (or oriental medicines such as herbal remedies), may be putting themselves at risk of having an adverse reaction to Western medications.  I would like to share some recommendations to help mitigate drug interactions.  

In sum, I look forward to sharing my experiences and insights with you, but I would also like to know about your journey in providing better quality of care.  Please let me know if there are any challenges you typically face that you would like me to address.

Paul Chang
pchang@jcrinc.com