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The Canadian Patient Safety Institute announced it will contribute $515,555.00 towards four patient-safety focused research and demonstration projects. The projects were selected for funding through the CPSI’s 2009 Research Competition. The primary goal for CPSI research activity is to develop knowledge about patient safety that can be applied to a variety of settings and circumstances in organizations across Canada. Research funded must have patient safety as a primary focus.
The four selected research projects will be co-sponsored by numerous healthcare and research organizations across Canada. The total matching contributions, whether in-kind or cash is $549,871.00. Thus, the total contribution towards patient safety research is $1,065,426.00.
CPSI’s 2009 Research Competition was very successful, receiving 46 applications, 29 of which were reviewed by an independent 
Peer/Merit Review Panel composed of national and international patient safety decision makers and researchers.
The following projects that are eligible for funding are listed below, including the team lead and project title:
Theme 1: Applied Health Services Research Projects
Kaveh G. Shojania (Toronto, Ontario)
Promoting Real-time Improvements in Safety for the Elderly (PRISE) Study
Anita Stern (Toronto, Ontario)
Pressure Ulcer Multi-disciplinary Teams Via Telemedicine (PUMTT): A Cluster Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial in Long Term Care
Deborah Tregunno (Toronto, Ontario)
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
Applicant teams proposed projects in a variety of healthcare settings including acute care, long term care, and educational settings. The four projects selected were identified as exhibiting the required level of scientific merit and potential benefit to patient safety and the healthcare system. They represent a diverse range of topic areas, including:
- Identification, prevention or mitigation of adverse events in community based settings such as long term care.
- Evaluating change management approaches to determine the most effective methods for improving patient safety.
- Assessment of safety competencies among new health professionals using the CPSI Safety Competencies Framework.
- The use of information technology for improving patient safety.
The objectives of the CPSI competition are to support research and demonstration projects on patient safety that:
- Involve interdisciplinary and/or multi-jurisdictional teams of researchers and healthcare administrators. Ideally, direct care providers, patients, and personal caregivers will be engaged in the project;
- Demonstrate potential for improvements in patient safety;
- Are readily applied to other health care services, settings or jurisdictions across Canada; and,
- Have a strong emphasis on knowledge transfer going beyond publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at scientific conferences.
Congratulations to the four successful teams!