Abstract

Improvements in hospital patient safety have been made, but innovative approaches are needed to accelerate progress. Evidence is emerging that microsystem approaches to quality and safety improvement in hospital care are effective.We aimed to evaluate the effects of a multifaceted, microsystem-level patient safety program on clinical outcomes and safety culture on inpatient units.A 1-year prospective interventional study was conducted, followed by a 6-month sustainability phase.Four medical and surgical inpatient units within an academic university medical center were included, with registered nurses and residents representing study participants.In situ simulation training; debriefing of medical emergencies; monthly patient safety team meetings; patient safety champion role; interdisciplinary patient safety conferences; recognition program for exemplary teamwork.Hospital-acquired severe sepsis/septic shock and acute respiratory failure; unplanned transfers to higher level of care (HLOC); weighted risk-adjusted mortality. Safety culture was measured using a widely accepted, validated survey.Rates of hospital-acquired severe sepsis/septic shock and acute respiratory failure decreased on study units, from 1.78 to 0.64 (p?=?0.04) and 2.44 to 0.43 per 1,000 unit discharges (p?=?0.03), respectively. The mean number of days between cases of severe sepsis/septic shock increased from baseline to the intervention period (p?=?0.03). Unplanned transfers to HLOC increased from 715 to 764 per 1,000 unit transfers (p?=?0.08). The weighted risk-adjusted observed-to-expected mortality ratio on all study units decreased from 0.50 to 0.40 (p?

View details for DOI 10.1007/s11606-014-3067-7

View details for Web of Science ID 000351664000014

View details for PubMedID 25348342