ALWAYS Check Two Identifiers – In a Hospital or a Casino

3
0

Slots

In hospitals, there's a big emphasis on healthcare professionals always checking TWO patient identifiers to help avoid getting the wrong patient. You might have two patients with the same name, so you should also check the birth date (since it's less likely to have two people with the same name and birth date… but not impossible!). This “always” checking two identifiers, sadly, doesn't always happen.

What we do in hospitals is such important work – it can be a matter of life and death. But, when a casino makes a mistake, it's sort of funny (unless you're the casino owner, of course). See this article:

Casino awards two men $1 million prizes after name mix-up

Two guys named Kevin Lewis… the casino announced a winner verbally… hilarity ensued… I'll give credit to the casino for owning up to their mistake and giving the prize to BOTH Kevins.


What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn – and follow me or connect with me there.

Did you like this post? Make sure you don't miss a post or podcast — Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.


Check out my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation:

Get New Posts Sent To You

Select list(s):
Previous articleWhat the Book “Lean Thinking” Said About Healthcare in 1996
Next articleVideo: Influencing Hand Hygiene Behaviors
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.