The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care has updated its allergy documentation tool kit, adding resources for latex and penicillin allergies.
The association's new toolkit includes an overview of documentation challenges and strategies for improving allergy management. The tool kit also covers a wide range of allergic reactions, from severe reactions to intolerances and side effects.
"While documentation cannot always prevent adverse reactions, how health care providers approach documentation can help to reduce risk,” said Naomi Kuznets, PhD, vice president and senior director of the association's Institute for Quality Improvement.
The association's 2018 quality roadmap showed organizations can rely too much on reporting a patient has no known drug allergies instead of checking for allergies to any type of treatment.
“It is best practice for providers to note any severe reactions a patient has to any type of treatment and not just to drugs,” said Dr. Kuznets. “Thorough documentation enables healthcare providers to take immediate action when a reaction occurs in the future.”
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