Patient Safety is More than a Point - it's a Priority

A safe environment is reflective of not only your physical and medical welfare, but also the security of your private health information. At McLaren Northern Michigan, we employ proven methods to protect both.

patient and clinical staff
nursing care
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Access to Critical Information When and Where it is Needed

One of only a handful of health systems throughout the nation first to establish Electronic Medical Record (EMR), McLaren Northern Michigan continues to be at the leading edge in technology advancements as well as a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired Award. The addition of Computerized Provider Order Management (CPOM) greatly enhances safety and efficiency, allowing physicians to enter and manage patient orders, thereby eliminating third party order transcription errors. And, perhaps more importantly, a robust EMR provides the connectivity required to allow all appropriate members of a health care team with immediate and remote access to critical patient information.

Smart Pump Technology

Nationally, medication errors account for thousands of deaths annually and billions of dollars in excess costs. Already years ahead of the national curve for the adoption of leading-edge safety technologies, McLaren Northern Michigan was one of the first hospitals to adopt a bar-coding program for medication safety and to implement Smart Pumps for automated medication dispensing.

Testing Means Prevention

  • Lactic acid testing equipment tests for sepsis, an often fatal infection if undetected.
  • MRSA testing is standard practice for the diagnosis and treatment of skin and soft tissue infections.
  • Routine penicillin allergy testing consistently finds large numbers of patients who considered themselves allergic but actually have no penicillin allergy. These findings open multiple antibiotic possibilities that may otherwise have been dismissed in the prevention and treatment of infections.

Smart Beds - Beyond Comfort

Introduced in 2012 throughout the Petoskey Campus, new Smart Beds improve safety by reducing the need to lift and boost patients, improving safety for patients with feeding tubes and those at risk of aspiration, and electronically alert nursing staff of patient conditions. Additionally, the beds deliver accurate patient weight and electronic visual safety checks.