As frontline care givers, resident physicians are in a unique position to identify – and correct – unsafe and inefficient practices that lead to less than optimal care, drive up health care costs and, in some cases, result in tragic and preventable medical errors. Missed the QI Conference? CLICK HERE to view video lectures, download materials and learn more about how to be scholarly in quality improvement.
The NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and CIR's Policy and Education Initiative (PEI) sponsored the one-day conference on November 30, 2011, bringing together 160 healthcare professionals from all 11 hospitals in the HHC system. The conference focused on a team and systems-based approach to reducing medication errors, with emphasis on the use of opioid and effective pain management. It was co-sponsored by 1199 SEIU and funded by the Federal Medication and Conciliation Service and the CIR Patient Care Trust Fund.
Dr. Jonathan Fader from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine presented "Motivational Interviewing" at The Art of Medicine: A Physician-Patient Communication Conference on Nov 19th, 2011.
Effective patient-physician communication is associated with safer patient care, higher patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment, lower malpractice rates, and higher physician satisfaction. Yet physicians have historically received little training in evidence-based methods of communication. (The Art of Medicine: A Physician-Patient Communication Conference on November 19, 2011)
PEI sponsored medical malpractice seminars, led by Chris Stern-Hyman, JD, to educate residents on alternative dispute resolutions, specifically the policy of post-adverse event disclosure, apology, and mediation. In conjunction with an early offer of fair compensation where justified, research has shown that this policy can reduce the expenses for all parties involved, and enable the hospital to identify and correct underlying systemic problems, while providing a much quicker financial resolution and avoiding the emotional difficulties for both patients and doctors caused by years of litigation. For example, the University of Michigan Health System noted that, in adopting a policy of disclosure and apology, its open medical malpractice claims dropped from 262 in 2001 to 83 in 2007 and reserves for claims were cut from $72 million to less than $20 million.[1] The government is getting behind this too; the Affordable Care Act has appropriated $50 million for a five-year period for states that can demonstrate productive alternatives to the litigation system. (PEI sponsored medical malpractice seminars, led by Chris Stern-Hyman, JD)
Nationally renowned patient safety expert Dr. Richard Shannon from the University of Pennsylvania, galvanized the crowd at PEI's Improving Patient Safety and Reducing Infections through Effective Teamwork and Communication conference with his frank assessment, “The only number that matters [regarding hospital-acquired infections] is ZERO.” Dr. Shannon stressed that all members of the healthcare team, from nurses and physicians to ward clerks and housekeepers, need to be involved in improving patient safety because all have valuable contributions to make to that effort. In keeping with that belief, conference organizers invited representative members of an inpatient unit (medical or surgical) from each HHC hospital to attend, along with those hospitals’ administrative staff, e.g. the chief operating officer, medical and nursing directors, and patient safety officer.
Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 11:41AM 