David Bates, MD

Bates, BWH Featured in Documentary on Patient Safety

At a time when patient safety has become a key driver for focusing national attention on health care quality, BWH’s Chief Quality Officer David Bates, MD, has not only shown the magnitude of the problem, but also provided a blueprint to help solve it. Bates, an internationally renowned expert in patient safety, joined leaders in government and quality at the Patient Safety – Health Information Technology Summit: Interactive Dialogue Regarding Critical Issues in HIT and Imaging last month to discuss critical issues in health information technology and imaging at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

Bates, who led a seminal study on drug-related injuries, demonstrating that the most effective way to prevent serious medication errors is to focus on improving systems, engaged in conversations around the recent Institute of Medicine HIT and Patient Safety Report and health care analytics and reporting. He spoke about his experience leading patient safety campaigns at BWH and joined pilot Sully Sullenberger on a panel to discuss lessons from aerospace and best practices that can be applied to both industries.

Following the summit, the documentary Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami: Bring Your Best Board™, produced by Dr. Chuck Denham and the Texas Medical Institute of Technology, was premiered for national leaders and the public, featuring Bates and BWH’s leadership in the area of health information technology in patient safety. The documentary aims to educate viewers and provide a call to action to develop and enhance the ways in which those in the healthcare industry can keep both patients and caregivers safe.

View the segment featuring BWH.