Patient Safety Awareness Week March 10-16
Consumers and health care providers must work together to reduce the rate of medical errors. The Institute of Medicine has reported that 44,000-98,000 deaths occur from medical errors each year. That's more deaths than those caused by breast cancer, AIDS or auto accidents combined. The goal of Patient Safety Awareness Week is to promote education and communication about patient safety and to create partnerships between patients and health care providers to improve safety.
Here are some ways in which you can actively participate in promoting safe care for our patients:
- Encourage dialogue with your co-workers around patient safety concerns;
- Encourage your patients to learn more about their health issues in effort to become an informed consumer of their care;
- Suggest that patients bring a family member to their appointments if they feel that this may help them to remember or understand all of the information that clinicians provide;
- Suggest that patients write down their questions when they have a quiet time to think, making it less likely that they will forget to ask an important question; and
- Recommend to your patients to set aside a day to empty out their cabinets of old medications and to check that their most recent medications are up to date.
Look for and take advantage of the following during and around Patient Safety Awareness Week:
- A Patient Safety Team information table set up outside of the cafeteria, which will provide handouts and brochures on medication safety, slips and falls prevention and tips for both patients and health care providers;
- An information and educational patient safety display in the Kessler Library in the Bretholtz Center with handouts and brochures available; and
- Community lecture series offered through the Bretholz Center for patients and their families-the three-part series is entitled “Becoming an Active Member in Your Healthcare Team.” Lectures planned include “Preventing Falls at Home” (March 26), “How to talk to your Doctor” (April 23) and “Taking Medications Safely” (May 21). Physicians are welcome to attend.
For more information, please email: Tejal Gandhi, MD or Erin Graydon-BakerPatient Safety Summit
Friday, June 14
7:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Bornstein Amphitheater
This half-day session will expose senior clinical and administrative leadership and managers to the core principles of patient safety; human factors in healthcare; collaboration in reporting and analysis of adverse events and near misses; and provide hands-on instruction.