Dear Colleagues,
Healthcare delivery is evolving into a more patient-centered industry, and that means it is paramount that providers make it easier for patients to receive safe and effective care and to be more involved in the management of their health. At Clarity, we focus on the safety of the healthcare community and the areas with the potential for risk as the industry continues to evolve and these changes occur.
In this issue of The Clarity Post, we are pleased to provide you with resources and insight into a wide variety of topics including high-reliability organizations, health literacy and Patient Safety Organizations.
We trust that the information will help you
in your overall efforts to enhance the safety of your patients, visitors and staff. We appreciate you taking the time and interest to read on.
Anna Marie Hajek
President & CEO
Clarity Group, Inc.
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The New Wave of Healthcare - E-visits
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It is no secret that telemedicine is exploding in healthcare as a convenient and cheaper option to the traditional doctor office visit. The latest trend in telemedicine is e-visits and like any new program there are risks and rewards, and a lot to consider. How do you actually conduct an e-visit? Do you limit it to a questionnaire or do you incorporate virtual visits? What do you have to consider from a risk management perspective?
The following materials will answer some of these questions and serve as a starting point as you develop your e-visit program:
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The Health Literacy Problem
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You may not realize it, but many patients don't understand their follow-up care plans or other common healthcare documents. A recent study published in the
American Journal of Surgery found that 65% of the study participants had reading skills at grade levels below what was required to understand their discharge notes. While there are agencies working to improve health literacy so a patient's health and well-being are not at risk, each organization and provider must do his/her part.
There are many strategies you can employ to improve the health literacy of your patients. From the basic to the in-depth, the following are resources to help you determine the best
strategies for your organization:
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A Look at High-reliability Organizations
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A high-reliability organization (HRO) is one in which there is an inherent risk and complexity to the work it does, but there is also a resiliency built into its very fabric that allows it to see issues before they become major problems and make adjustments accordingly.
We often hear about these HROs and how the aviation and nuclear industries have found success in them. While healthcare shares similar hazardous and high-pressure settings with these other industries, it can be difficult to obtain and sustain the levels of safety suggested by HROs in today's hospitals. That does not mean it cannot happen, though. An article recently published in the
Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare magazine discusses some of the lessons learned by two organizations that are working toward high-reliability and zero harm.
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The Patient Wish List
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You are a healthcare professional, but at some point in your life, you might also have been a patient. Did you have trouble sleeping? Did the colors of the wall impact your mood? Organizations focus on providing safe and quality care, but what about the everyday things that contribute to a patient's experience?
Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD worked with Jan Hill, Johns Hopkins' patient relations director
to put together a list of the most common points of feedback they receive at their organization.
The list, which was published in
U.S. News & World Report
, may not seem like anything new, but it is a conversation starter and reminds us that care goes far beyond procedures and medications.
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Celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week
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Mark your calendars - Patient Safety Awareness Week is March 13 - 19. This week kicks off NPSF's United for Patient Safety campaign, a yearlong effort to highlight patient safety issues, start important dialogue between healthcare professionals and the general public, and drive action for reduced harm. Learn more about the campaign and prepare for the week with these links:
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Patient Safety Organizations
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PSO Impact and Opportunity
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There are many reasons to work with a PSO, but here are 3 reasons why you should embrace one now:
- By January 1, 2017, 50+ bed hospitals that want to participate in the health insurance exchange must conduct work in a Patient Safety Evaluation System, a key component of PSO participation
- PSOs allow healthcare providers to participate in patient safety activities and share sensitive information without the fear of legal discovery
- PSOs help advance the quality and safety of healthcare delivery and strengthen safety cultures
 In order to help providers better understand the world of PSOs and their impact on the healthcare community, we created our report: PSO Impact and Opportunity - A Seven-Year Report to Healthcare Providers. In the report, we describe more than just the basics; we give you a look into the inter-workings of Clarity PSO and share a few of our patient safety activity success stories. Download PSO Impact and Opportunity.
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PSOs - A Safe Learning Environment for Patient Safety Issues
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Need more information? Here are a few more PSO resources:
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Clarity PSO Learning Series: Surgery & Anesthesia Safety Event Reporting
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How do you learn from safety events when they are reported as "other"? In this PSO Learning Series Report, we investigate the themes and trends buried within the "other" categories of surgical events in order to create meaningful classifications for errors and their contributing factors.
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Highlights from Clarity's National Patient Safety Summit
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Over the summer, Clarity held a day-long workshop focused solely on patient safety. The forum brought together healthcare professionals in operational and clinical leadership roles from across the country so they could
discuss how to add new and innovative patient safety initiatives within their organizations while creating a culture of safety in the process.
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Clarity PSO to Present at AHRQ's Annual PSO Conference
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Clarity PSO is honored to present at AHRQ's upcoming Annual PSO Conference regarding its involvement in RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System®. RO-ILS
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which is co-sponsored by ASTRO and AAPM, is the only medical specialty society-sponsored radiation oncology incident learning system operating within a federally recognized Patient Safety Organization, Clarity PSO.
Tom Piotrowski, Executive Director of Clarity PSO, and a RO-ILS program participant will discuss how the program was developed and share some of the lessons they have learned so far. The program has seen much success, and we are excited to share this information with the healthcare community.
Detailed information about RO-ILS is available on ASTRO's website.
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A Success Story from Cone Health
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Cone Health, a comprehensive health network in North Carolina,
has been using our incident reporting tool, the Healthcare
SafetyZone
® Portal, since 2003. Over the years, Cone Health has found new and innovative ways to use the system including the recent development of its f
ormal Discharge Callback Program. The Program has seen great results thus far with improvements in the following areas:
- HCAHPS scores
- Staff morale
- Patient feedback
- Patient experience
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1 - A. Choudhry, Y. Baghdadi, A. Wagie, E. Habermann, S. Heller, D. Cullinane, D. Jenkins, M. Zielinski (2015). Readability of discharge summaries: with what level of information are we dismissing our patients? The American Journal of Surgery
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This newsletter contains links to sites which are not owned or maintained by Clarity Group, Inc. Clarity Group is not responsible for the content of non-Clarity Group linked sites, and the views expressed on non-Clarity Group sites do not necessarily reflect the views of Clarity Group, Inc.
This information is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, medical and/or legal advice. Specific questions regarding this information should be addressed to local advisors and legal counsel. © 2016 Clarity Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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