Surgical Safety

Tufts Medical Center has an active multidisciplinary Surgical Quality and Safety Committee committed to patient and personnel safety in the operating room.

What we are doing to improve
Tufts Medical Center’s Ticket to Safety is a process to ensure that wrong-person, wrong-procedure, wrong-site surgery never happens at Tufts Medical Center. For your safety, you will be asked your name, your date of birth, what procedure you are having, and what site is being operated on multiple times before your surgery. 

• When you arrive at the hospital, you will be asked your name, your date of birth, and what procedure you are having, and an identification bracelet will be placed on your wrist. 

• In the pre-operative area, your answers will be compared to the information in your chart to ensure that everybody on the surgical team is aware of what procedure you are having. 

• Immediately before taking you into the procedure room, the staff will again ask you your name, your date of birth, what procedure you are having, and what site is being operated on. 

• In the operating room, before the procedure starts, the entire surgical team pauses and confirms with each other the name, medical record number, and date of birth of the patient and the procedure and site of the surgery they are about to perform. 

What you can do to help

• Bring an up-to-date list of all medication you take with you to the hospital. The list should include over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins, and dietary supplements you take. 
  
  
• Do NOT shave near your surgical site. Shaving can cause irritation, which may contribute to infection. 
  
  
• Remove all jewelry, including rings and body piercings before you come to the hospital.
  
  
• Make sure your surgeon, nurse and anesthesia provider are asking your name, date of birth, what procedure you are having, and what site is being operated on. Please speak up if someone forgets to ask you.