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ACOG Resources
New Cervical Cancer Screening Recommendations Explained
Here, ACOG Vice President for Health Policy Barbara S. Levy, MD, explains reasoning behind new recommendations for extending the interval between Pap screenings to 3-5 years for most women. For more information, please view ACOG's official statement on the updated guidelines.
SCOPE Touted in October Issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology
The Safety Certification in Outpatient Practice Excellence (SCOPE) Program is featured in the October 2012 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. In "Patient Safety Strategies: Are We on the Same Team?", the program is noted as being highly effective in promoting the highest level of women's health care in the office setting. Click here to view the full article.
New Guidance on the "Well-Woman Visit"
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a new Committee Opinion which details when pelvic exams are needed, which women need clinical breast exams, and why the annual well-woman office visit is so important. Committee Opinion 534 produced by the College's Committee on Gynecologic Practice can be found in the August 2012 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology and on ACOG's Resources and Publications page.
Improving Medication Safety
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement has revised its guidance on medication safety. The revised Committee Opinion Number 531, Improving Medication Safety, is now available in the August 2012 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology as well as on ACOG's Resources and Publications page.
ACOG's New Immunization for Women Website
Immunization Information for Ob-Gyns and Their Patients
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has designed the "Immunization for Women” website to provide ob-gyns and their patients with a central, trusted source of up-to-date information on seasonal flu and other vaccine-preventable diseases, including immunization facts and safety, immunization schedules, clinical and practice management guidelines, and links to other reliable immunization resources. Click here to visit Immunization for Women.
Quality and Safety Manual Available
The College continues its tradition of leadership through its newest publication, Quality and Safety in Women's Health Care, Second Edition. This manual is intended to serve as a primer for obstetricians and gynecologists starting or managing quality improvement programs within their hospital departments or ambulatory practices. Primary focus is on quality and safety in the inpatient setting, team training, quality and safety in the office setting, and data analysis tools, but also includes:
- Updated example clinical privileging levels
- Data analysis and measurement tools
- The 2009 Report of the Presidential Task Force on Patient Safety in the Office Setting (located in the Appendices)
- World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist.
To access an electronic publication of this manual, please visit here (members only). If you are interested in ordering a paper copy of the manual, please visit our bookstore here.
A companion slide set, complete with speakers' notes, is also available for members. This slide set may be used for educational purposes, such as grand rounds. It may be accessed as a read-only file.
Patient Safety Checklists Available
According to various studies, within and outside of the practice of obstetrics and gynecology, standardization of health care processes and reduced variation has been shown to improve outcomes and quality of care. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has developed a series of Patient Safety Checklists to help facilitate the standardization process. These checklists reflect emerging clinical, scientific and patient safety advances as of the date issued and are subject to change. The information should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of treatment or procedure to be followed. Although the components of a particular checklist may be adapted to local resources, standardization of checklists within an institution is strongly encouraged.
Patient Safety Checklists are primarily intended to serve one of two purposes:
- To identify items or tasks that should be confirmed before or during the scheduling of a procedure or the performance of that procedure or
- To facilitate documentation of what was accomplished or utilized during a procedure. The latter is done retrospectively, while the former is done prospectively or concurrently.
Because these documents may contain protected health information when completed, the obstetrician–gynecologist and the respective facility should develop a retention policy for their use.
Members may access the Patient Safety Checklists here.
