The Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery Patient Checklist (ISOBS PC)

 

Noah Rosenberg, M.D.
Resident, Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Fred E. Shapiro, D.O.
Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, ISOBS Founder

The Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery (ISOBS), an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, has developed a safety checklist for use in the office-based setting. A recent study to be published in the journal ePlastydemonstrated a more than 75% reduction in the number of surgical complications with use of the ISOBS Safety Checklist (see below for citation). While this positive effect on surgical complications validates much of the data already collected in the inpatient setting, it also clearly emphasizes the need for a tailored patient safety approach to the office-based setting. For that reason, ISOBS has developed a second checklist for use by patients to engage them in office-based surgical safety.

The ISOBS Patient Checklist (ISOBS PC) contains a number of questions and concerns every patient should raise with their officebased surgeon and other members of their care team, including even possibly their primary care physician. The ISOBS PC mirrors a number of the checklist items in the original ISOBS Safety Checklist, giving patients a framework for taking an informed, active role in their care and safety.

ISOBS has already quantitatively demonstrated the positive effects of a safety checklist aimed at physicians and support staff. The ISOBS Patient Checklist represents the next step in patient safety, as patients are given a first-of-its-kind tool to ensure their safety and satisfaction. ISOBS is guided by the continued belief that without tools to aid patient safety, neither practitioners nor patients will have the security they deserve.

For further information, see Rosenberg NM, Gallagher S, Stenglein J, Urman RD, Liu X, and Shapiro FE. Effect of an Office-Based Surgical Safety System on Patient Outcomes. ePlasty (accepted).

ISOBS also publishes a complimentary electronic newsletter to which you may subscribe through the organization’s website, www.ISOBS.org .