It's the annual National Patient Safety Awareness Week, just ending now. Here are my thoughts from last year, including my stance that EVERY week needs to be patient safety week. The problem is big enough that we need awareness increasing all the time. But, I guess this week doesn't hurt.
I just helped fund a “Kickstarter” project for the first time – and I hope you'll check it out: Breaking the Wall of Silence Documentary by Citygate Films. The participants include Dr. Peter Pronovost and Rosemary Gibson, twhe author of the book Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes That Kill and Injure Millions of Americans
The preview emphasize key points like healthcare is full of good people working in a really broken system and patients don't have enough information about this system that is supposed to protect them, but is likely to harm them. The film will focus on MedStar, a system that is working to fix this problem via methods that they admit “are not rocket science.” “It's about leadership.” Their goal is to transform the safety culture across the entire organization.
The video preview (or read about it here at support the project):
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.