IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) convened its annual Mid-Year Event to discuss safety challenges in the healthcare system that result in millions of preventable deaths around the world. Keynote addresses and roundtable discussions with renowned patient safety experts in a variety of fields focused on macro-level strategies to create a safer healthcare system with zero preventable harm.

PSMF’s Mid-Year Event invites patient safety thought leaders and advocates, hospital administrators and clinical executives, medical technology executives, major healthcare system payers, patients and their families, and government officials from around the world to review best practices and to chart a course of action for the year.

A keynote by Carol Peden, MD, Co-Chair of the Right Care Initiative, discussed lessons learned from the implementation of evidence-based strategies, including data transparency, and ways to reduce racial and socio-economic disparities in healthcare. Another keynote from David C. Stockwell, MD, the Chief Medical Officer at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, examined next steps in applying the recommendations of the recent PCAST report to President Biden on the urgent need to addresses widespread preventable harms at U.S. hospitals. Albert Wu, MD, Director at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research, discussed the importance of “just culture” and creating a blame-free culture in which individuals are able to report errors without fear of punishment.

Joe Kiani, Founder of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, stated, “From day one, we’ve worked to break the silos across the entire healthcare ecosystem to develop solutions informed by all stakeholders, including patients, and with multidisciplinary expertise. The mid-year meeting this year looked at solutions that will help us reach zero preventable harm faster. Momentum is everything. We see a clear pathway toward eliminating preventable medical errors, but we all have a part to play. We need to take action out of kindness.”

“We have an enormous opportunity to save lives around the world,” stated Dr. Mike Durkin, Chair of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. “It’s now time to bounce back from the impact of the pandemic, during which we learned firsthand of the dangers to patients and healthcare workers. We now need to maintain our momentum to reduce harm and work ceaselessly and collaboratively in all healthcare settings. This year, the World Health Organization will focus on diagnostic safety. We must continue to listen to our patients, their families, and healthcare workers and provide them a platform so that they feel safe in telling their stories without fear.”

“We can have a safer healthcare system today, but we all need to make it a priority,” stated Dr. Michael Ramsay, Chief Executive Officer for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. “We also need to demand transparency and access to real data from our healthcare providers. I am encouraged by the passion of the meeting attendees and believe 2024 will be a pivotal year for patient safety.”

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ‘To Err Is Human’ report,” stated Sanaz Massoumi, Chief Operating Officer for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. “We now clearly know that practicing evidence-based medicine prevents patient harm, and there is no question that it saves millions of lives and billions of dollars. We hope to partner with more healthcare institutions in 2024. We also hope to empower patients and patient advocates.”

This year’s meeting also featured a presentation by Michael Millenson, President of Health Quality Advisors, LLC, who shared why he believed progress has been slow and what needs to be done to accelerate change and transform our healthcare system. Also presenting today were Dr. Neelam Dhingra, who heads the World Health Organization’s Transformative Flagship Initiative; Dr. Edward Kelley, Chief Global Health Officer of ApiJect; and Dr. Howard Hu, Chair and Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences of the University of Southern California.

Panel recommendations included:

• Board and C-suite’s role in patient safety
• Resilience in healthcare
• Engaging the patient and patient families
• Pediatric safety
• Diagnostic safety

The presentations and roundtable discussions at the Mid-Year Event laid the groundwork for the PSMF’s two-day 11^th Annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit scheduled for later this year, on September 6–7, 2024. For more information, updates, and to register for the Summit, please visit https://psmf.org/summits/11th-annual-world-patient-safety-science-technology-summit/.

ABOUT THE PATIENT SAFETY MOVEMENT FOUNDATION

In 2012, Joe Kiani founded the non-profit Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) to eliminate preventable medical errors in hospitals. His team worked with patient safety experts from around the world to create Actionable Evidence-Based Practices (AEBP) that address the top challenges. The AEBP are available without charge to hospitals online. Hospitals are encouraged to make a formal commitment to ZERO preventable deaths, and healthcare technology companies are asked to sign the Open Data Pledge to share their data so that predictive algorithms that can identify errors before they become fatal can be developed. The Foundation's annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit brings together all stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government employers, and private payers. The PSMF was established through the support of the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare. For more information, please visit psmf.org.

Contacts

Patient Safety Movement Foundation

Irene Mulonni, [email protected] | (858) 859-7001