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: September 2009 - Present
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 Inpatient Units
• Inpatient nursing staff are 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.
Project Progress/Results: The project’s first six months of results are 78% compliance with the
new process. With additional coaching and practice, this result is expected to further improve.
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