Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety

Improving Health & Safety Through Innovation and Awareness

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Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety

Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is an advocacy group dedicated to improving patient health and safety. PPAHS seeks to advance key patient health and safety initiatives that significantly impact patient lives and to do so in a prescriptive and practical manner.

Opioid Safety (Pain Management)

Opioid analgesics—powerful painkillers—are one of the types of drugs most frequently associated with adverse events. Improved patient monitoring reduces the risk of these events from occurring. PPAHS advocates that hospitals monitor all patients receiving opioids with capnography and pulse oximetry.

Learn more.

Venous Thromboembolism (Blood Clots)

Venous thromboembolism—blood clots—is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States, where maternal mortality is on the rise. To keep all mothers safe before, during, and after delivery, PPAHS offers recommendations and raises awareness about available best practices and new prevention options.

Learn more.

Alarm Management (Noise Fatigue)

Alarm fatigue—when doctors and nurses become desensitized to clinical alarms—has been listed as hospitals’ top health technology hazard since 2007. PPAHS raises awareness about guidelines, tools, and recommendations for hospitals to promote alarm and pain management for the goal of keeping patients safe.

Learn more.

Expert Quotes

“Alarm fatigue is a national problem. Excessive false alarms occur frequently and contribute to alarm desensitization, mistrust, and lack of caregiver response. This may lead to staff disabling or ignoring alarm systems, which decreases patient safety.”

Maria Cvach, MS, RN, CCRN, assistant director of nursing, clinical standards, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

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“Nurses in intensive care units stated that the primary problem with alarms is that they are continuously going off and that the largest contributor to the number of false alarms in intensive care units is the pulse oximetry alarm. A ‘smart alarm’ that analyzed multiple parameters, like oxygenation and adequacy of ventilation, in a patient’s condition, may be a solution. This would increase patient safety by making it easier for nurses to assess a patient’s condition and reduce the frequency of false alarms.”

Maria Cvach, RN, MSN, CCRN, Assistant Director of Nursing and Clinical Standards at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (on smart alarms)

“We need to do a better job of explaining how alarms work and what to expect if they go off.”

Dr. Steven D. Hanks, Executive Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer for the Hospital of Central Connecticut

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About Us

Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is an advocacy group dedicated to improving patient health and safety. PPAHS seeks to advance key patient health and safety initiatives that significantly impact patient lives and to do so in a prescriptive and practical manner.

PPAHS is engaged in the following key initiatives for improving patient safety and health outcomes: opioid safety, venous thromboembolism, and alarm management.

PPAHS on Twitter

  • RT @PSEPUMVA: Hot off our digital video press: The Michigan Risk Score, helping you rate the #risk a #PICC might post for your patients.… 11 hours ago
  • In this article which was published in Healthcare Business Today, Michael Wong, JD (Founder and Executive Director,… twitter.com/i/web/status/9… 2 days ago
  • Identifying and Managing #RespiratoryCompromise from @CSRT_tweets story.cd/AAIfBe 1 week ago
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