A method for preventing wrong-site surgery and tracking near-miss events as a patient progresses through a surgical procedure environment including a surgeon office, hospital admissions, hospital pre-operative holding area, and an operating room, the method comprising:
- identifying a patient in need of a surgical procedure;
- creating an electronic patient profile of said patient for use in tracking said patient through said surgical procedure environment, said electronic patient profile including surgical procedure information, patient information, and surgeon information;
- associating said electronic patient profile with a patient-specific article equipped with a machine-readable code containing a unique identification number and a laterality code, wherein said electronic patient profile is updated to include said unique identification number and said laterality code after said electronic patient profile has been associated with said article;
- delivering said article to said patient in said hospital pre-operative holding area and tracking said article as said patient progresses through a remainder of said surgical procedure environment;
- assessing said electronic patient profile at multiple temporally spaced events within said surgical procedure environment as said patient progresses through said surgical procedure environment to confirm that said electronic patient profile matches with an intended surgical procedure associated with a correct diagnosis of said patient, said intended surgical procedure including a correct patient, a correct procedure, a correct surgical site, and a correct laterality, or does not match with said intended surgical procedure, wherein assessing includes an inspection by a medical team member as to whether said patient information and said surgical procedure information matches said intended surgical procedure and, after said article is delivered to said patient, also includes an electronic scan of said machine-readable code on said article to electronically assess whether said surgical procedure information and said patient information matches said intended surgical procedure, wherein:
- if said electronic patient profile matches said intended surgical procedure, allowing said patient to continue progress within the surgical procedure environment and updating said electronic patient profile to reflect that said electronic patient profile matched said intended surgical procedure;
- and
- if said electronic patient profile does not match said intended surgical procedure, at least one of pausing and cancelling the progression of said patient within said surgical procedure environment and updating said electronic patient profile to reflect a near-miss data including a mismatch type or reason for said pausing or cancelling of the progression of said patient within said surgical procedure environment;
- and
- commencing said intended surgical procedure if, during a final assessment of said electronic patient profile in said operating room, it is determined that said electronic patient profile matches said intended surgical procedure.