BWH has assembled an official Patient Safety Team to advance the institutional priority of safety by reducing preventable medical errors.
The team is led by Tejal Gandhi, MD, from the Department of General Medicine. Gandhi has published research articles on topics including patient safety, adverse drug events (ADEs) and medication error. Other team members include Erin Graydon-Baker, MS, RRT, Patient Safety manager; Camilla Neppl, research assistant and Carl Stapinski, RPh, adverse drug event supervisor. The goal of the team is to help create a culture of safety at BWH by increasing the detection and the analysis of errors and by making improvements to systems to prevent future errors.
The Patient Safety Team is integrated within Quality Management Services and works collaboratively with Risk Management, Performance Measurement, Care Improvement, Corporate and Regulatory Compliance, Patient and Family Relations and Nursing Management. The Patient Safety Team reports directly to the Anthony Whittemore, MD, BWH’s chief medical officer, and is required to report issues through the Care Improvement Council, Hospital Safety and Environment of Care Committee, and the Medical Staff Executive Committee on Quality Assurance and Risk Management.
Every month, the Patient Safety Team plans to publish brief updates of BWH Patient Safety initiatives and strategies for error reduction. Questions or concerns can be emailed to Gandhi or Graydon-Baker.