Healthcare safety and reliability improvements are dependent on addressing overuse of health services, implementation of process improvement tools and roadblocks to truly safe institutional culture, according to Joint Commission president and CEO Mark R. Chassin, MD, in a Health Affairs viewpoint article.
To move forward in creating new and innovative approaches to healthcare quality and safety, Dr. Chassin proposes three strategies:
1. Eliminate health service overuse. While addressing preventable harms is vital to reducing cost and improving quality, cutting procedures with dubious or no benefits from the medical repertoire should not be overlooked as an avenue to achieving affordable and quality care.
2. Resist simplification. The standard approach to implementing evidence-based guidelines, checklists and toolkits is not one that is easily customizable, according to Dr. Chassin. Instead, he recommends investing in change-management strategies, including process improvement tools, which give hospitals the resources to address specific issues at their institutions, rather than general issues known to exist with certain processes.
3. Create a culture of safety. Having and adhering to safe reporting practices is key to fostering a culture of accountability, which is necessary for safety improvements. In addition, Dr. Chassin recommends willful safety violations should carry a penalty structure for every violator to disincentivize rule-breaking as it applies to patient safety.
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