Creating
a “Culture of Patient Safety”
By Glen F. Davis, MD
President, Seminole County Medical Society
The medical community
has always worked to improve patient care and minimize errors. However,
the full magnitude and impact of medical errors was not appreciated
until the 1990s, when several reports brought attention to this
issue. Although the data in some of those papers is still questioned,
the reports led to research which identified where improvements
were needed. The reports also gave rise to the patient safety movement,
which emphasizes improving systems to reduce errors, rather than
focusing on individual mistakes.
The patient safety movement
offers a tremendous opportunity for healthcare providers. Most of
the proposed initiatives have the potential to provide significant
benefits for physicians, hospitals and patients. Yet in spite of
this, nationally the patient safety movement has been slow to catch
on. Some of the reasons include a lack of acceptance of the problem,
questions about the supporting data, and skepticism over some of
the recommended solutions.
Seminole County
has taken a unique approach on this issue. A Seminole County Patient
Safety Initiative has been created to advance patient safety
county-wide. The goal of the Initiative is to create a “culture
of patient safety”— in which there is an obsession in
the medical community with providing the best care possible, and
an equal obsession with continually improving that care. The vision
is for all involved in healthcare to partner in achieving this goal.
The
Patient Safety Summit on April 22nd jumpstarted the Initiative.
At the Summit, nationally renowned speakers presented on the problem,
some potential solutions, and other exciting options. For a few
months, information about the Summit will be kept on the SCMS website.
To ensure that
a “culture of patient safety” becomes and remains a
reality, a Seminole County Patient Safety Council
has been created. The Council will consist of physician, hospital,
and patient representatives, and will meet regularly to discuss
patient safety issues on a county-wide basis.
A “Patient Safety in Seminole County”
magazine has been published to help spread information about the
Initiative to as many Central Florida physicians as possible. The
magazine contains articles written by the Summit speakers about
various patient safety efforts, and information about our PAWS initiative—designed
to create a unique and positive patient safety message. Physicians
are being encouraged to put the magazine in waiting rooms so patients
can learn about patient safety, and about how they, too, can help
reduce medical errors.
There are potentially
many additional facets and benefits to our Patient Safety Initiative.
Our hope is that the entire medical community will join in our effort
to make this effort successful, so we can be assured that healthcare
in Central Florida will remain the best and safest possible.
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