Patient Safety & Quality Improvement USMLE Step 1 Practice Question
A hospital system implements a rapid response team that can be activated by any healthcare worker who notices clinical deterioration in a patient. In the first year, the team is activated 450 times. Of these activations, 320 result in interventions that prevent ICU transfer, 80 result in ICU transfer, and 50 are determined to be false alarms. Hospital administration is concerned about the 50 false alarms. Which of the following is the most appropriate response?
Answer choices
- AImplement a scoring system that must reach a threshold before activation is permitted
- BRestrict rapid response activation to physicians only to reduce false alarms
- CRequire documentation justifying each activation to discourage unnecessary calls
- DAccept the false alarm rate as a reasonable cost of a sensitive safety systemCorrect answer
- EEliminate the rapid response team because the false alarm rate is too high
- FImplement a financial penalty system for staff members who activate the team without documented objective vital sign abnormalities
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