Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1516756
15 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT CHS cuts serious safety events by 89% By Mackenzie Bean O ver the last decade, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has significantly reduced the incidence of serious patient safety events across its member hospitals. In 2012, CHS became one of the first healthcare organizations in the country to create a federally-listed patient safety organization. This effort kicked off the organization's journey to zero preventable harm, with 2012 data serving as a safety baseline. Since then, CHS has deployed specific high-reliability leadership methods, human error prevention behaviors and a structured cause analysis approach to prevent harm. The healthcare organization's serious safety event rate has fallen 89% since 2013, with reductions seen in events related to medication errors, patient falls and healthcare- associated infections, among other areas. Researchers highlighted their approach in a case study published Nov. 15 in NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery. n How Scripps combats low-performing metrics By Naomi Diaz I n an effort to focus on low-performing metrics, Scripps Health introduced "Sprint Teams," a program aimed at addressing challenges and driving initiatives through direct engagement with front-line care teams. e journey of Sprint Teams began in January 2020, when Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder divided the chief medical officer role into two, assigning Ghazala Sharieff, MD, to oversee quality and inpatient metrics in her role as corporate senior vice president, chief medical and operations officer. However, the organization faced challenges in making rapid changes to meet quality standards, prompting the need for a new strategy. e concept of Sprint Teams came in October 2020, and emphasized a multidisciplinary approach to address specific challenges efficiently. ese teams, consisting of representatives from each of Scripps' five hospitals, focus on a single problem, such as heart failure or emergency department falls, and collaboratively work to implement changes within the year. is process evolves from a "sprint" to a "task force" when dealing with ongoing issues that may persist due to the difficulty of achieving zero occurrences, Dr. Sharieff told Becker's. "Last Spring, we got all five 'A's' on LeapFrog — all five, and that's a lot of the Sprint Team efforts because everybody's rowing in the same direction," she said. e impact of Sprint Teams at Scripps has been profound, according to Dr. Sharieff. She said, in 2023, the health system has been able to reduce emergency department falls from 65 to 19 and catheter- associated urinary tract infections from 78 to 30 . Dr. Sharieff said the Sprint Teams have also been able to contribute to lowering infection rates, reducing readmissions and improving overall care to enhance patient satisfaction. n 5 patient safety focuses to help healthcare inch close to 'zero preventable harm' By Ashleigh Hollowell T he Patient Safety Movement Foundation, a non-profit based in Irvine, Calif., made up of patient safety experts and clinicians, announced five key focuses for 2024 as the organization works to create a "zero preventable harm" environment throughout the healthcare sector. Among them: diagnostic safety, pediatric patient safety, engaging patient and patient families in safety practices, evaluating hospital leadership's role in patient safety and resilience in healthcare, the organization announced in a Jan. 26 news release. ese will all also be topics at the group's annual event in September 2024. Determining the goals occurs at a mid-year meeting, which the group just held, requires research and insight from multiple stakeholders across healthcare. e group also discussed racial and socio-economic disparities in patient safety and the need for increased access to healthcare data from providers to inform research. "From day one, we've worked to break the silos across the entire healthcare ecosystem to develop solutions informed by all stakeholders, including patients, and with multidisciplinary expertise," Joe Kiani, founder of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation stated in the release. "e mid-year meeting this year looked at solutions that will help us reach zero preventable harm faster. Momentum is everything. We see a clear pathway toward eliminating preventable medical errors, but we all have a part to play." n