Executive Clout Helps Johns Hopkins Patient Safety Program
Keeping patients safe has been a national focus ever since "To Err is Human" was released in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine. Every healthcare organization struggles with thorny patient safety issues.
Johns Hopkins in Baltimore Maryland, a long-time leader in innovative thinking regarding patient safety, established the Johns Hopkins' Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care in 2002. One of the main features of the program is CUSP, the Comprehensive Unit Safety Program, which pairs senior JHM executives with clinical departments or units to serve as “champions” and facilitators of safety programs. These safety executives become a regular part of a clinical unit’s operations, meeting with front line staff on a regular basis to get firsthand knowledge of care and safety issues.
The concept behind CUSP is that executives have the clout to cut red tape quickly, direct needed resources, and speed change. Since CUSP’s inception in 2003, about 35 Hopkins leaders have “adopted” clinical units.
Team members are given an opportunity to listen to nurses and physicians under actual work conditions, interact with patients, and discuss challenging issues.
Johns Hopkins’ patient safety program was recently awarded second place in Healthcare Informatics magazine’s eighth annual Innovator Awards.
Source: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_21_09.html
Ajlouny says:
July 18th, 2009 at 1:22 am
It’s a great thing to have an organization such as this. It’s very common that the patient is at risk from bad medical advise or medical mistakes that effect their life or limb.