Patient Safety in Action: Teamwork, Communication and Professional Conduct

Patient safety professionals and champions, by nature, are dedicated to the goal of delivering high quality, safe care to their patients.They go the extra mile, not only for their patients, but for their interdisciplinary teams, who share this common goal. Together, they know that only by mutually supporting each another can they succeed. After all, effectiveness in patient safety teams starts from within.

MHS Patient Safety Data Snapshot

The new MHS Patient Safety Data Snapshot is a monthly compilation of two types of patient safety data 1) Sentinel Event (SE) notifications submitted to the Patient Safety Analysis Center (PSAC); 2) Anonymous, voluntarily reported patient safety events via the web-based incident reporting system known as PSR.

HRO Corner: Monitoring, Detecting and Reducing Harm – The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Global Trigger Tool

The Secretary of Defense Military Health System (MHS) Review's (October, 2014) focused on access to care, the quality of care, and patient safety within the MHS. One of the key recommendations on the report addressed the Patient Safety Reporting (PSR) system and the specific need to adopt a chart audit-based methodology, such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Global Trigger Tool (GTT) to better determine harm rate.

Feature: The Value of a Strategic Partnership

A great example of a strategic partnership the MHS has been able to foster, is the partnership between the DoD Patient Safety Program (PSP) and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF). Since 2004, all MHS MTFs have been members in the NPSF’s Stand Up for Patient Safety (SUPS) program. Under this program, NPSF provides patient safety-focused educational resources, tools and learning opportunities to Army, Navy, Air Force and NCR MD military treatment facilities (MTFs) CONUS and OCONUS.

Basic Patient Safety Manager Course: New Course Content and a New Name!

After six years of preparing new Patient Safety Managers for their roles in military treatment facilities (MTFs), the Basic Patient Safety Manager (BPSM) course is being updated with new subject matter and a name change to reflect the full scope of the offerings (both pre- and post-course) and the varying roles and disciplines of the attendees.

DoD PSP Treasure Chest: October Edition

Welcome to the October edition of the DoD PSP Treasure Chest! Each and every month, we will be sharing resources to help you execute your day-to-day patient safety activities easily and effectively. Please visit us often and get access to tools and information developed with you, our committed MHS patient safety champions, in mind!

DoD PSP Treasure Chest: September Edition

Feature: Surgical Quality Improvement and High Reliability across the Military Health System

In May of 2015, in response to the MHS 90-Day Review action item requiring the expansion of participation in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP®) by inpatient military treatment facilities, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) hosted a three-day collaborative meeting which included surgical quality representatives (Surgeon Champions and Surgical Clinical Reviewers (SCRs) from each of the Services and the National Capital Region Medical Directorate (NCR MD)).

HRO Corner: Experts and Resources Advance Surgical Quality and Improvement across the Military Health System

Improving patient safety and quality by proactively preventing patient harm and ensuring our service members' medical readiness is of utmost importance for leadership and staff across the Military Health System (MHS). For this reason, and in response to the MHS 90-Day Review in May of 2015, the MHS is currently engaged in the expansion of participation in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) NSQIP to inpatient military treatment facilities (MTFs).

MHS Patient Safety Data Snapshot

The new MHS Patient Safety Data Snapshot is a monthly compilation of two types of patient safety data 1) Sentinel Event (SE) notifications submitted to the Patient Safety Analysis Center (PSAC) 2) Anonymous, voluntarily reported patient safety events via the web-based incident reporting system known as PSR.

MHS Patient Safety Spotlight

This resource features data-driven examples of improvement and case studies that tackle specific problems with specific solutions.

Patient Safety in Action: The Department of Defense Makes its Mark at the 2016 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Conference

The NSQIP expansion across the MHS is a collaborative of subject matter experts (SMEs) and surgical leadership from participating military treatment facilities (MTFs) sponsored by Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/Health Affairs (OASD/HA) and the Defense Health Agency (DHA). At the July 2016 American College of Surgeons Association National Surgical Quality Improvement Program NSQIP Annual Conference in San Diego, CA, two breakout were conducted to discuss NSQIP enrollment and expansion progress to date across the Military Health System (MHS) as well as to provide guidance on the implementation and strategic goals of NSQIP in the direct care system.

Update: Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program

The Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program (Awards) recognizes Department of Defense (DoD) staff who have shown initiative and commitment to the development of systems and processes that will help transform the Military Health System (MHS) into a high reliability organization (HRO) and ensure that we partner with patients every step of the way.

DoD PSP Treasure Chest: August Edition

Welcome to the August edition of the DoD PSP Treasure Chest! Each and every month, we will be sharing resources to help you execute your day-to-day patient safety activities easily and effectively. Please visit us often and get access to tools and information developed with you, our committed MHS patient safety champions, in mind! This month we highlight the following resources: Patient Activation Resource Guide, Ask Me 3® Brochure, On-Demand e-Learning Courses, and Facebook Page.

Patient Safety in Action: The I’M SAFE TeamSTEPPS® Checklist – An Exercise in Openness and Transparency with your Team

The connection between transparency and high reliability is one that touches many aspects of what we do as MHS patient safety professionals. We strive to be transparent in the way we share information with our patients – working with them as partners in their care and informing them of what we do openly and visibly. We are also transparent about our MTFs progress towards high reliability so that we can continue marching towards our goal of zero patient harm with efforts such as the Patient Safety Culture Survey. Another way that we, as MHS patient safety professionals, can display transparency on a daily basis is by using tools such as the I’M SAFE TeamSTEPPS Checklist.