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Patient Safety—Meeting JCAHO Standards with Pollution Prevention

Pollution prevention (P2) activities make great performance improvement initiatives. They can help you achieve JCAHO standards included in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH) and meet rules, regulations and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) goals. They also promote the health of the public-keeping in line with the basic premise of health care.

DEHP leaches from PVC items and can be toxic, especially to newborn males.

To the extent possible, eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP)-containing patient care devices in the organization such as gastric tubing, IV bags, and respiratory therapy items including tubing.

Producing and incinerating PVC contributes to the formation of dioxin—a persistent bioaccumulative toxin (PBT).

 

 



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Achieve JCAHO CAMH Standards Meet Rules, Regulations and Goals
PI.2: Improved and new processes are well designed and consider patient safety.
  Reducing or eliminating DEHP improves patient safety by reducing the risk of patient exposure.

RI.1.2.2: Patient understands outcomes of care including unanticipated outcomes.
  Eliminating DEHP alleviates the need to explain to the patient unanticipated outcomes related to DEHP.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) public health notification: polyvinyl chloride (PVC) devices containing the plasticizer diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), June 2002

P2 Act of 1990, U.S. Code (USC) Title 43 the Public Health and Welfare Chapter 133. Established P2 as a national policy and developed a hierarchy of waste management.

H2E goal: Reduce volume and toxicity of all types of waste 30 percent by 2005 and 50 percent by 2010.

 

Pollution prevention activities that make great performance improvement initiatives:

mercury | solid waste | infectious waste | chemicals and waste | hazardous waste spills and exposure | ignitable chemicals | pest management | pharmaceutical management | patient safety | environmentally preferable purchasing

JCAHO introduction page

 

 
 
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