Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/683043
14 PATIENT SAFETY LEADERS "Having grown up where and when I did, I had never met a back physician and the idea that that could be a possibility was foreign to me," says Dr. Wyatt. "I wasn't able to afford the program my teacher suggested because I was raised by a single mother, but she really planted a seed and made me think it could be possible." e third experience that made a lasting impression on Dr. Wyatt occurred roughly one year later. ere was a story in the local paper about a child who received sutures in his arm from a physician who, when he discovered the child's mother couldn't pay, proceeded to remove the sutures from the wound. "I remember reading that the woman took her child to a veterinarian who put the sutures back in for free, but I was just so appalled by the physician's actions," says Dr. Wyatt. "I decided then that medi- cine should reflect my experience with the physician in Harrisburg — friendly and safe — and I wanted to help medicine be the way it ought to be." Since then, Dr. Wyatt has worked tirelessly to become both a great physician and an advocate for patient safety. Prioritizing patient safety in healthcare Dr. Wyatt went on to attend college and then the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, where he graduated in 1985. He credits the education he received at UAB for preparing him for a career in medicine. Aer UAB, Dr. Wyatt was accepted into the internal medicine residency program at Saint Louis University. ere, he became the school's first African-American chief resident. He later went on to practice medicine for roughly two decades in a variety of settings, including in community health centers and in private practice. Dr. Wyatt got particularly interested in patient safety aer he was invited to help conduct a site visit for a federally funded health center in a rough Chicago neighborhood. Dr. Wyatt's job was to perform a clinical effectiveness review by surveying clinicians and examining the clinical process. As part of the review, Dr. Wyatt also made it a point to speak to the health center's patients. "I went across the street to sit at a bus stop and I would ask all the patients leaving the clinic, ''Why do you come to this site for care?' and the unifying answer was 'Because they take care of me'" says Dr. Wyatt. "at to me is the epitome of patient safety — trust. And that experi- ence took me back to this idea of how healthcare is supposed to be." Aer his first clinical effectiveness review, Dr. Wyatt began seeking out new ways to get involved in patient safety improvement efforts. He went on to conduct clinical effectiveness reviews at facilities across the country. He also brought what he learned about patient safety from those reviews to the hospitals where he worked throughout his career. "e hard part is you have to be involved in a lot of committees and you have to work your way up the chain of command, and get through all the politics, to get closer to working with the adverse events and the root cause analysis part of patient safety," says Dr. Wyatt. Dr. Wyatt's patient safety experience includes a fellowship with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and various patient safe- ty-focused positions at the Defense Health Agency (formerly the Department of Defense military health system), the Food and Drug Administration Drug Safety Oversight Board and CMS' Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation Advisors program. In 2012, he joined the Joint Commission and served as medical director in the Division of Healthcare Improvement, where he led numerous patient safety-related initiatives. For instance, Dr. Wyatt helped develop the organization's national patient safety goals, sen- tinel event alerts and quick safety publications. He also played a big part in transforming the former Office of Quality Monitoring into the Office of Quality and Patient Safety. "e thing that attracted me to the Joint Commission was that fact that it has become more than an accreditation organization, it has evolved into a healthcare improvement company," says Dr. Wyatt. "And I have to say, I have not been disappointed in the least in my time with the Joint Commission — patient safety and quality im- provement really is the priority." The future of patient safety under Dr. Wyatt Since being named patient safety officer of the Joint Commission, Dr. Wyatt shared with Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality some of the expectations and goals he has for his first year in the position. Although he expects to run into some professionals in the industry who continue to view the Joint Commission as an accreditation agency, he is determined to help drive its transformation into a quality and pa- tient safety organization, as well as externally change people's opinions about the Joint Commission. He plans to accomplish this goal through efforts involving education, collaboration, coaching and mentoring. "I want to work with other organizations to help them keep patients and healthcare personnel safe, as well as to decrease harm and establish the fact that zero harm is not just an aspirational goal, it is achievable," says Dr. Wyatt. Dr. Wyatt would also like to focus on an issue that is near and dear to his heart — improving access to high-quality healthcare for under- served populations. "I've been working for years to elevate the importance of healthcare equity, and I will continue to do so as patient safety officer," says Dr. Wyatt. "To do that, I want to focus more attention on the social determinants of health." Overall, Dr. Wyatt would love to see more healthcare organizations explore how they can reach out to individuals who experience inequalities due to their race, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual preference, socioeconomic status or disability, and improve their care experience and clinical outcomes. "e good news is, there is a lot of energy right now focused on making healthcare more equitable," says Dr. Wyatt. "I'm encouraged to see...more and more organizations incorporating equity into their strategic priorities and I think it is, and will continue to be, a huge part of the patient safety movement." n "More and more organizations [are] incorporating equity into their strategic priorities." — Ronald Wyatt, MD