Next week is Patient Safety Awareness Week. I want to highlight a set of competencies, first in our ongoing series, that we released in 2019 that detail competencies or outcomes to boost patient safety, health equity, and promote high-quality care. These competencies will be refreshed in 2022 and we welcome your input. Email QIPS@aamc.org to share your feedback!
Within the report Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Competencies Across the Learning Continuum I suggested
Ways to improve quality and patient safety education at your institution:
- Transform student, resident, and new-physician orientation to focus on patient safety. For example, reprioritize or reframe orientation experiences to educate and reinforce safety protocols and practices.
- Engage patients and families in quality improvement and patient safety efforts by, for example, co-creating curricular activities with patients and family members.
- Use simulation-based education for especially high-risk, infrequent events.
- Include medical educators on sentinel event task forces or committees. Consider common causes that may be addressed through educational interventions and needs or areas for further attention in educational programs.
- Frequently review ACGME Clinical Learning Environment Review findings, The Joint Commission data, surveys of patient safety culture, and other safety metrics for trends and needs and ask, How can these quality and safety needs inform and be supported by the educational programs and quality improvement efforts of faculty, residents, and students?
- Collaborate closely with colleagues working in quality and safety areas to improve reporting practices, especially of near-miss events.
- Integrate root cause analyses into morbidity and mortality conferences and daily huddles.
- Share quality improvement and patient safety medical education success stories in governing board meetings, graduate medical education committees, and other leadership forums.
- Integrate opportunities to reward safe practices and reporting of near misses or "good catches."
Interested in learning more about the competencies? Read more here.
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Lisa Howley, PhD
Sr. Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships in Medical Education
Pronouns: She/Her
Association of American Medical Colleges
lhowley@aamc.org@LisaDHowley
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