HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital achieves JCI standard for infection risk prevention and medication errors in intravenous therapy

On February 20, 2025, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital HCMC organized the ceremony to receive the PRIME JCI certificate - the program for preventing infection risk and medication errors in intravenous therapy.

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Statistics at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital HCMC show that each year there are more than 1 million infusion procedures, with each nurse performing on average 10‑30 infusions per day.

According to the World Health Organization, adverse, unsafe incidents in hospitals are among the top 10 leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Among the many factors that cause harm to patients but could be prevented, medication errors and infections are the most frequently reported.

Therefore, the implementation of the Infection and Medication Error Prevention Program in intravenous therapy (abbreviated as the PRIME Program) according to the standards of the International Joint Commission on Patient Safety (JCI) is an international certification for safe and professional patient care.

This program was created with the goal of updating and training essential and standardized practice skills related to medication preparation, medication administration, and maintenance of intravenous lines, based on the best international practice standards, and has been implemented in over 50 hospitals in many countries.

In March 2024, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital organized the launch ceremony of the Infection and Medication Error Prevention Program in intravenous therapy at the Hospital, marking the milestone that began the journey of standardizing infusion practices according to international standards.

After 10 months of effort, training nearly 1,000 nurses, pharmacists, and infection control staff, by January 23, 2025, the Hospital successfully completed the program with impressive results:

- Is the first university hospital in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to successfully implement the PRIME - JCI program.

- Is a pioneering, benchmark hospital in implementing PRIME - JCI with the largest scale nationwide.

- Is a hospital that received the PRIME - JCI certification with the shortest preparation and implementation time among all hospitals that registered for the program.

Especially, the hospital's processes also almost fully meet the requirements of the JCI organization such as:

- 100% of prescriptions are checked for suitability before dispensing by pharmacists.

- 100% of nursing procedures for injections and intravenous line care are updated and standardized according to JCI standards.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital receives PRIME JCI certification

In clinical departments, after suitability checks before dispensing by clinical pharmacists and dispensing pharmacists, each prescription must be carefully checked at least twice by nurses before being administered to the patient. To ensure the medication administration environment, the wards have been optimally designed with adequate lighting and quietness.

Medication carts are designed at the correct height, meet cleanliness and regular disinfection requirements, and are equipped with reference tables for compatible and contraindicated drugs, helping nurses quickly and easily look up information before medication administration.

Synchronization from the doctor's orders to medication administration via automatically printed medication labels from the system saves time and ensures accuracy.

Before implementing the Program, nurses' knowledge related to the Z-track injection technique was only 29.7%. After the training sessions, this rate increased significantly to over 90% and remained stable for many months, demonstrating the seriousness in updating knowledge and practice among hospital nurses, focusing on safety and reducing discomfort for patients when injecting skin-irritating medications.

Another distinctive aspect of the Program is the expansion of knowledge about central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) to all nursing staff at the hospital, rather than focusing only on the ICU‑Emergency unit as before.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, the results of hand‑hygiene compliance monitoring through a camera system combined with feedback showed that healthcare workers’ compliance rates ranged from 89.7% to 100%, and the CLABSI rate per 1,000 device‑days decreased from 4.5‰ to 0.0‰.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Bac - Hospital Director affirms: “The PRIME program according to JCI standards has been successfully implemented after 4 months of preparation and 6 months of official implementation, serving as evidence of the effort to improve the skills and expertise of the medical team in the hospital. We are proud and determined to maintain and enhance the quality of health care according to international standards, continuing to provide the best medical services for the community.”

The journey of implementing the “PRIME - JCI” program has marked an important step forward in improving quality and ensuring medical safety according to international standards at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.