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AHA-NPSF Comprehensive Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship
On Feb 08, 2013 | CommentsApplications Accepted Through March 15, 2013
The National Patient Safety Foundation is proud to partner with the American Hospital Association in sponsoring the AHA-NPSF Comprehensive Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship. This year-long program provides essential training in patient safety, quality, and performance improvement.
The fellowship consists of four in-person learning sessions, periodic teleconferences, webinars, various self and organizational assessments, and individual coaching.
This curriculum is based on the 2009 paper Transforming Healthcare: A Safety Imperative from the Lucien Leape Institute at NPSF. It prepares health care leaders to guide patient safety improvement initiatives and drive transformational change within their organizations.
The fellowship framework includes a focus on foundational elements of patient safety, such as leadership roles, culture and communication, and incorporates them into four pillars of patient safety:
- Care coordination
- Patient centeredness
- Organizational culture
- Transparency and learning organization
Fellows complete an action learning project to bring real change within their organizations and demonstrate their ability to apply the concepts learned. This rigorous approach ensures that Fellows can translate knowledge and best practices learned into action within their own organizations.
Applications for the 2013-2014 are being accepted through March 15, 2013. Please visit the fellowship website for more information.
The AHA and the National Patient Safety Foundation are sponsors of this program.
Partners include: The Health Education & Research Trust, Health Forum, the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, the American Organization of Nurse Executives and the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Dialogue on Patient Safety and Cancer
On Nov 26, 2012 | CommentsThe National Patient Safety Foundation was invited to participate in a recent Congressional briefing about patient safety and cancer care. Jointly sponsored by Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ) and Ventana Medical Systems, the briefing, entitled “A Dialogue on Patient Safety and Cancer,” was designed to inform Congress and the public about particular patient safety issues in the cancer care arena.
Cancer services cover a wide range of activities, from health promotion and screenings to diagnosis, surgery, medical or radiotherapy, palliative care, and disease management. Likewise, the safety risks and opportunities for error are broad and far-reaching in consequence, and include adverse drug interactions, patient misidentification and cross-contamination of laboratory specimens. The risk of error grows with the introduction of new therapies and the advance of personalized medicine.
In written comments to his colleagues prior to the meeting, Rep. Barber said, “As Congress continues to address health issues, a concise overview of some of the key issues, challenges, and solutions related to cancer and patient safety should help guide the institution’s analysis, debate, and action.”
Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, interim president of NPSF, represented the Foundation’s commitment to supporting health systems in their efforts to improve safety in cancer care. She also recounted personal experience with the health care system that served to illustrate some of the very issues under discussion.
Joining Ms. McGaffigan on the expert panel were Mara Aspinall, president and CEO, Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., and global head, Roche Tissue Diagnostics; Maurie Markman, MD, senior vice president of clinical affairs and national director of medical oncology, Cancer Treatment Centers of America; and Eric Walk, MD, FCAP, senior vice president, medical and scientific affairs, Ventana Medical Systems.
Ms. McGaffigan also answered questions informally after the session. View the video below.
Part I
Part II
Boston, MA, October 22, 2012 — The Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation today released a report on care integration that highlights the issue as a national priority for improving patient safety and the efficiency of the US health care system. Order from Chaos: Accelerating Care Integration is the result of a Leape Institute Roundtable that brought together leading experts in the fields of patient safety and health system improvement.
National Patient Safety Foundation Announces Leadership Transition
On Oct 15, 2012 | CommentsBoston, MA, October 15, 2012—The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) has announced that Diane C. Pinakiewicz, MBA, CPPS, will be leaving her position as President of NPSF, effective November 12, 2012. As part of the planned transition, Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, Vice President, Program Strategy and Management at NPSF, will assume interim duties while the search for a permanent successor occurs. Read More→
New Tools for Enhancing Patient Safety When Caring for Patients with Limited English Proficiency
On Oct 12, 2012 | CommentsThe Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently released new tools for enhancing patient safety in the care of patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Read More→
AHRQ Offers Toolkit to Strengthen Medication Reconciliation
On Oct 11, 2012 | CommentsMedication reconciliation—the act of maintaining, documenting, and being able to communicate accurate medication information for patients—is one of the National Patient Safety Goals outlined by The Joint Commission.
Now, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is offering a free toolkit to help acute care and post-acute care facilities evaluate and improve their current medication reconciliation process. The toolkit, Medications at Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) Toolkit for Medication Reconciliation, can help facilities reduce patient harm due to adverse drug events or medication errors.
This toolkit is based on the Medications at Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) Web site. It provides a framework to capture complete, accurate medication information through electronic health records (EHRs) and enables the development of a medication reconciliation process or the redesign an existing process.
For more information, visit the website, or contact AHRQ via e-mail AHRQpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov or by phone at 1-800-358-9295.
Call for Letters of Intent to Conduct Research & Development in Patient Safety
On Sep 21, 2012 | CommentsApplications invited for grant projects to begin in 2013
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s Research Grants Program seeks to stimulate new, innovative projects directed toward enhancing patient safety in the United States. The program’s objective is to promote studies leading to the prevention of human errors, system errors, patient injuries and the consequences of such adverse events in the health care setting. In this first stage of a two-stage application process, Letters of Intent (LOIs) are solicited for research and development that is broadly related to identifying the causes of preventable injuries and errors and/or developing prevention strategies and methods to implement them. Based on these LOIs, a limited number of applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. Read More→
Health IT and Patient Safety
On Sep 05, 2012 | CommentsWhile hospitals and physicians’ offices are increasingly adopting computerized information systems, the systems are still relatively new, and research suggests they need to be improved to optimize their potential benefits.
A recent article in Focus on Patient Safety highlights the work of the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs), a network of research centers established in 1999 by the United States federal government to add to the evidence base on the safety and effectiveness of therapeutics—a broad category that includes drugs, medical devices, and biological products, such as vaccines. The article specifically focuses on recent CERTs research on the use of computerized information systems in health care settings.
Safety Specialists: A Career Path for Nurses
On Aug 24, 2012 | Comments
A recent post on a health care job website looked at patient safety as a career path for experienced nurses. The article quoted one patient safety specialist as noting that, “The unique element of this role is the relationship across disciplines.”
That’s a key point: That while many experienced nurses transition to patient safety manager or director roles, patient safety touches every area of health care. While a nursing background is certainly helpful, health professionals from other disciplines may also move into a role with a primary focus on patient safety.
The article noted that certification is now available for patient safety professionals.
What’s been your path to patient safety? Tell us via the comment box below or write to us at info@npsf.org.
Nearly One in Three Americans Report Experiencing Medical Mistakes
On Aug 21, 2012 | CommentsWolters Kluwer Health Survey Shows High Consumer Confidence that Technology Adoption Will Reduce Medical Errors
Read the summary story online.
