Project Name:
Involving Patients in their own Care as a Patient Safety Strategy & Define and Communicate the Means for Patients & Families to Report Safety Concerns & Encourage Them to Do So

Project Timeframe: October 2008-September 2009

Project Description and Purpose:
Communication with patients and families about all aspects of care, treatment, and services is an important characteristic of a culture of safety in the hospital. When the patient knows what to expect, he or she is more aware of possible errors and choices. The patient can also be an important source of information about potential adverse events and hazardous conditions.

Effectively involving patients in their own care has been shown to help improve their outcomes, overall hospital experience and has been identified as a key driver of patient safety. This topic is a big focus of hospitals, regulators & other industry groups across the nation.

Patients should be active participants in their care and safety… it does make a difference, and no one knows the patient better than the family. Interactive communications with patients and families about all aspects of patient care is an important characteristic of a culture of safety… something RRMC has identified as a goal for our organization.

Joint Commission Requirement because of sentinel events data that indicates this is an area for significant improvement opportunity and RRMC could/should be doing more in this area to improve safety, care and satisfaction.

Project Team:
The Performance Improvement Team of ‘Involving Patients in their own Care as a Patient Safety Strategy & Define and Communicate the Means for Patients & Families to Report Safety Concerns & Encourage Them to Do So’ is focused on increasing patient and family involvement in their care as a patient safety measure. It is a multi-disciplinary team with representatives from nursing units, Risk Management, and Patient Relations.

Project Goals & Objectives:
• Identify greatest areas of opportunity to help improve safety through patient involvement
• Identify the ways in which the patient and his or her family can report concerns about safety and encourage them to do so
• Repeatable processes that promote patient involvement & safety as per Joint Commission requirements of NSPG #13
• Increase in patient safety, care and satisfaction in the Surgical Care Unit
• SCU staff is receptive and appreciative to the patients & families concerns
• Develop a process for responding to patient & family safety concerns

Evaluation Process:
Following Rutland Regional Medical Center's model for improvement (MEDIC), the team performed a thorough evaluation of the current processes for involving patients and families in their care. During the course of this evaluation, it was identified that there was a lack of data. For this reason, improvements were made to the event reporting data collection tool. Staff surveys were also developed to identify staff perceptions related to information currently communicated between Inpatient Nursing and Diagnostic Imaging. Flow charts illustrating the current process were developed and distributed to other front line staff for review. Extensive evidence based research of current practice and communication theories have been completed. Survey information, research, and insight into cause and effect were utilized to develop a Trip Ticket to be used during the patient hand-off.


Project Progress/Results:
An improvement theory was created and during the next meeting the Team will flow chart on how patients currently receive information, and how they will receive information in the future.