Inside this Issue:
Advancing patient safety
In collaboration with our partners and stakeholders we announced major research and resources this month. Working with the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF), we officially have launched the Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety Toolkit – Resources for healthcare board members and senior leaders.
Governing boards of healthcare organizations are legally responsible for the performance of their organizations - this invaluable resource is freely accessible on the Canadian Patient Safety Institute website at www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca and copies are available for order. We collaborated with stakeholders, leaders and advisors to develop a toolkit to help boards understand and implement effective governance practices for quality and patient safety.
In partnership with the EMS Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC) and the Calgary EMS Foundation, we just released a new report exploring patient safety in EMS. The first of its kind in the world, Patient Safety in Emergency Medical Services: Advancing and Aligning the Culture of Patient Safety in EMS is the result of extensive research, which included bringing together Canadian and international leaders in EMS and experts in patient safety to discuss the successes, challenges and future directions of the patient safety movement for EMS in Canada.
We are now working hard to discover - How much do adverse events cost? In an effort to understand the true financial costs of adverse events, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute is supporting research to explore the "economic implications" associated with patient safety. The Canadian Patient Safety Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Edward Etchells, Associate Director of the University of Toronto Centre for Patient Safety, and co-Principal Investigator Dr. Nicole Mittmann of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will lead this important research.
Working with you,
Hugh MacLeod
Canadian Patient Safety Institute
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Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety Toolkit
New! Resources for healthcare board members and senior leaders
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The Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) are pleased to announce the release of the Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety Toolkit. This invaluable resource is accessible at no charge on our website at www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca and copies are available for order.
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the CHSRF collaborated with expert stakeholders, leaders and advisors to develop a toolkit to help boards understand and implement effective governance practices for quality and patient safety.
In the Fall of 2010, CHSRF and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute will offer an education program for members of boards and executives of healthcare organizations to provide them with the skills and knowledge to effectively govern for quality and patient safety. For more information please visit www.chsrf.ca.
The toolkit and governance education program are also based on a report that the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the CHSRF recently co-released, “Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety in Canadian Healthcare Organizations,” prepared by a research team led by Dr. G. Ross Baker. This highly popular report has proven to be a ‘must read’ as it offers insights and recommendations for board members and executives of healthcare organizations as well as for policy makers.
For more information, please contact Abigail Hain at ahain@cpsi-icsp.ca
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New Report highlights patient safety issues in Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
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John Wolfe |
John Wolfe, a patient who experienced severe chest pain while walking his dog, knows the importance of implementing processes that make care safer in EMS. The EMS crew that attended to Wolfe was able to use the Vital Heart Response (VHR) process, which uses a colour-coded checklist and human-factors engineering to make treating a heart attack safer.
“The VHR process that they used should be used everywhere,” says Wolfe. “Everyone should have the type of care I received – it saved my life.”
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute, in partnership with the EMS Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC) and the Calgary EMS Foundation, has just released a new report exploring patient safety in EMS. The first of its kind in the world, Patient Safety in Emergency Medical Services: Advancing and Aligning the Culture of Patient Safety in EMS is the result of extensive research, which included bringing together Canadian and international leaders in EMS and experts in patient safety to discuss the successes, challenges and future directions of the patient safety movement for EMS in Canada.
“EMS is a vital part of the Canadian healthcare system,” says Paula Beard, Director of Operations, Canadian Patient Safety Institute. “This paper will be foundational for providing guidance on improving patient safety in EMS around the world.”
“EMS personnel often provide healthcare services in high-stress environments, which means that well- intended caregivers are at risk of causing inadvertent harm to patients,” says Bruce Farr, President, EMSCC. “The paper outlines a number of key recommendations for improving patient safety in EMS, which will provide a stepping stone to help guide our work in the area of patient safety going forward.”
To date, research in the area of patient safety in EMS has been limited. Blair Bigham and Dr. Laurie Morrison, co-principal investigators from Rescu at St. Michael’s Hospital, believe the research results presented in this paper will be helpful in laying the foundation for future initiatives and research, and for improving patient safety.
"We now have a glimpse into the sometimes hectic world paramedics work in,” says Bigham. “We can start working towards solutions to the challenges that make delivering safe healthcare in the field so unique.”
“The data we now have will help to shed light on patient safety challenges in the field environment, and provides a way forward to address these challenges with an evidence-informed approach,” adds Morrison.
Patient Safety in Emergency Medical Services: Advancing and Aligning the Culture of Patient Safety in EMS was officially released at the EMSCC Conference 2010: A National Conversation, held June 8 and 9, 2010 in Lake Louise, Alberta.
For further information, please contact skossey@cpsi-icsp.ca or kbowman@cpsi-icsp.ca
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Spotlight on patient safety excellence in Emergency Medical Services
Submitted by William (Bill) Hill, CCP, MBA, CHE
Principal of Clinical Quality & Patient Safety for Medavie EMS
Medavie EMS provides ambulance services (Land, Air, Communications, and Paramedic Education) within Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and the District of Muskoka in Ontario. Medavie EMS is committed to the development of a patient safety framework supporting our corporate envisioned goal to encourage a culture of safety. Our efforts in the development of a patient safety framework include:
- Adopting patient safety as a strategic goal;
- Dedicating resources to developing patient safety throughout the organization;
- Engaging staff on their attitudes and awareness of safety;
- Identifying high risk processes and procedures;
- Integrating the Canadian Patient Safety Institute Safety Competencies within the curriculum of our paramedic training facility, as well as within clinical operations;
- Recognizing the need for the development of a corporate-wide adverse event/near miss reporting system that is user friendly with staff that feels comfortable reporting;
- Training for all departments in Failure Modes Effect Analysis (FMEA), and Root Cause Analysis (RCA);
- Review and adoption of Accreditation Canada’s Required Organizational Practices; and
- A corporate-wide Patient Safety Plan that describes the activities and objectives our organization will work to satisfy over the next 18 months.
Medavie EMS strongly believes that the EMS industry must be mindful that the risk of harm is ever present, while remaining prospective in our approach, and becoming our own worst critics. For further information, visit www.medavieems.com
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2009 Research Competition: Successful applicants announced
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute is pleased announce that four projects have been recommended for funding from the 2009 Research Competition. For the 2009 competition, 46 applications were received, of which 29 were reviewed by an independent Peer/Merit Review Panel composed of national and international patient safety decision makers and researchers.
The Canadian Patient Safety will contribute $515,555 toward these four patient-safety focused research and demonstration projects. These research projects will be co-sponsored by numerous healthcare and research organizations across Canada, with total matching contributions, including in-kind or cash of $549,871, generating a total contribution towards patient safety research of $1,065,426.
“The Canadian Patient Safety Institute supports funding of high caliber patient safety research,” says Hugh MacLeod, CEO of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. “These four projects will further our understanding of patient safety issues in acute-care, long term care, and educational settings.”
Congratulations to these four projects/team leads that have been approved for funding:
Theme 1: Applied Health Services Research Projects
Kaveh G. Shojania (Toronto, ON)
Promoting Real-time Improvements in Safety for the Elderly Study
Anita Stern (Toronto, ON)
Pressure Ulcer Multi-disciplinary Teams via Telemedicine: A Cluster Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial in Long Term Care
Deborah Tregunno (Toronto, ON)
Assessment of and the Factors that Influence Patient Safety Competence among Health Professionals at Entry to Practice
Theme 2: Demonstration Project
Jacqueline Ellis (Ottawa, Ontario)
Preventing Medication Errors with High Alert Drugs: Testing a Computerized Double Check
Click here to read more about the individual projects.
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Patient Safety in Primary Care Roundtable
Last year, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute partnered with the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council (BCPSQC) to begin to explore the current state of knowledge, key issues and priorities, and opportunities and strategies for advancing patient safety in primary care in Canada.
Through a competitive process, a research team from the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) was commissioned to develop a background paper on patient safety as it applies to primary care. The Advisory Group has been instrumental in providing guidance and advice to the researchers in this groundbreaking work, and assisting with the planning and facilitation of an invitational roundtable event held in Toronto (ON) on May 10, 2010, in conjunction with the annual Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) conference.
The Patient Safety in Primary Care Roundtable brought together 50 key stakeholders in the fields of patient safety and primary care from across Canada, including clinicians, researchers, patient representatives, policy and decision-makers, regulatory bodies, and formal organizations. The event began with the IHE research team providing an overview of the preliminary findings, and was followed by an excellent presentation by Dr. Robert Varnam and Dr. Richard Jenkins of the UK’s National Health Service Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
Johanna Trimble, a member of the BC Activated Patient Voices Network, who participated in the event remarked: “As a representative of the patient voice I felt respected and that my input was valuable. In all, the day had a positive or energizing outcome and I look forward to the final report and to any opportunity to continue to participate.”
Feedback from the Roundtable discussion, key informant interviews and literature review will inform the work of a final report which will be broadly distributed later this year. For more information, please contact Sandi Kossey at skossey@cpsi-icsp.ca.
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Quarterly Update report now available
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute Quarterly Update is a new report written about you – our partners, stakeholders, policy makers and advocates. The Quarterly Update is one of the tools to help us build a meaningful partnership. In the inaugural issue, three inter-related activities are highlighted that support the advancement of patient safety, cost reduction and provide a foundation for meeting accreditation standards.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the Quarterly Update for January to April 2010. If you would like paper copies of this report please contact jwhite@cpsi-icsp.ca.
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Patient Safety in Social Media
As the Canadian Patient Safety Institute pushes patient safety forward through social media, we need to know where you are! Are you on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? Or are you engaging in patient safety on other social media platforms?
We also want to know how we can help you with your social media. What information would you like to see from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute through your social media channels? News clippings, updates on projects, patient safety facts, announcements about campaigns/events, etc.? We want to hear from you.
Email Abisaac Saraga, our Social Media Manager at asaraga@cpsi-icsp.ca.
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Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project wins award
Since 2005, the TerraPharma Project has convened hospital executives, pharmacists, nurses, safety directors, and information technology professionals for the unSUMMIT for Bedside Bar Coding. This community meets annually to promote skillful adoption of bar-code enabled point-of-care (BPOC) safety technologies in hospitals. Each year, the unSummit community nominates and honours the exceptional contributions of individuals and institutions who have helped clear the path and accelerated the adoption of BPOC safety systems in hospitals across North America.
This year, the Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project was the “organization” chosen to receive this peer-to-peer award, the first time the award has been granted outside the United States. In receiving this award, the project joins the company of previous organizational recipients: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Food and Drug Administration, the Veterans Health Administration and the Hospital Corporation of America.
In granting this award to our Canadian project, the U.S. bar coding community recognized the manner in which the project has been successful in clearing the path to pave the way for widespread utilization of point-of-care bar-code scanning, thus adding another layer of patient safety to Canada’s medication-use systems. In receiving the award on behalf of the project and its many collaborators and supporters, Sylvia Hyland, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP-Canada) made the point that this highly collaborative and inclusive effort has been so successful because all stakeholders have set aside their competing interests to come together to support the vision of a pan Canadian standard for bar coding of all medications.
Headed jointly by ISMP-Canada and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, the Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project is guided by a national Implementation Committee and being developed with assistance from a 34-member Technical Task Force (TTF), representing six identified healthcare sectors. For more information on the project, please visit the ISMP Canada website.
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People in Patient Safety
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute is pleased to welcome three new members to its team:
Nathalie Paquette – Administrative Assistant
Nathalie Paquette recently joined the Canadian Patient Safety Institute Ottawa office, in the role of Administrative Assistant. Nathalie brings a considerable background in her role and is a wonderful addition to the team. A graduate from Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology’s Office Administration program, Nathalie provides administrative support to Laurel Taylor, Director of Operations, and to the project managers of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute Ottawa office.
Prior to joining the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, Nathalie acquired extensive administrative experience during her eight years as the Executive Assistant and Office Manager of a national non-profit sector council.
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April Imhoff – Administrative Assistant
April’s extensive experience as an Administrative Assistant is an added benefit to the Canadian Patient Safety Institute team in the Edmonton office. Her duties are numerous, involving contributions to human resources, financial services, database management and administrative support to the Director of Corporate Services, Joseph Gebran. She is fully bilingual, which is a tremendous asset to the Edmonton team.
April hails from Bathurst, New Brunswick and is a graduate from the New Brunswick Community College, where she specialized in bilingual secretarial techniques. April brings varying experience providing administrative support to railway operations and the medical industry. She is an avid reader and enjoys golfing.
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Morgan Truax, MLIS - Librarian
Morgan Truax graduated from the University of British Columbia with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science, following the completion of her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the same institution. Throughout her studies she focused on special and medical librarianship and won the Marion Harlow Award in Special Librarianship for her efforts. Previously, Morgan was Clinical Librarian and Manager of Library Services for the BC Mental Health and Addiction Services, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia.
As the Canadian Patient Safety Institute Librarian, Morgan is responsible for locating patient safety-related information from a variety of sources and making it accessible to staff and the general public. She assists project managers with their research needs in various areas of patient safety and regularly updates staff on the availability of current resources in the field. She also maintains the library of print materials in the Edmonton office. Morgan is dedicated to helping people find, understand and use the best information possible.
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