Progress

In recent years, medical school curricula have increasingly included patient safety and safety science, and these concepts have also become more common in education for other clinicians and frontline staff. For example, the American Medical Association’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium brought medical schools together to innovate, develop curricula and share best practices, including those addressing quality and safety. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Clinical Learning Environment Review (ACGME CLER) programme requires medical resident participation in quality and safety learning. Recently, the Association of American Medical Colleges initiated a programme to create a shared understanding of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety competencies across the full continuum from medical school to continuing practice.

Other clinical disciplines, particularly nursing, have often pioneered educational pathways, and a concerted effort is underway to emphasise the importance of interprofessional teams. The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses programme has focused on enhancing education around safety science in nursing schools for more than a decade. More recently, the National Collaborative for Improving the Clinical Learning Environment highlighted the ‘patient safety gap’ in the education and training of all clinicians and provided clear recommendations for improvement.3

To assist healthcare students and professionals in building core skills in improvement, safety and leadership, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) developed a web-based interactive educational programme called the Open School. More than 650 000 learners have enrolled in the Open School since it opened its virtual doors in 2008. To address the need for training in postgraduate medical education, in 2012 the NPSF created a course in patient safety and safety science that more than 7000 learners of diverse disciplines have used. Several universities have developed graduate education and fellowships in quality and safety, and clinicians, risk managers, pharmacists, executives and others have pursued these as well as certificate programmes and professional certification in patient safety.4

Remaining challenges

Still, opportunity lies ahead for greater consistency in how health professionals learn about patient safety. A 2016 report from ACGME CLER reveals gaps in areas such as feedback on safety reporting and experiential learning, lack of awareness of the range of patient safety issues and shortage of opportunities for interprofessional system-based improvement efforts.5 Contributing to this learning gap is a shortage of academic faculty with safety and quality improvement expertise.6

Continuing education requirements for attending physicians are highly variable. While some medical specialties require continuing education in patient safety, the American Board of Internal Medicine recently removed it as a requirement from Maintenance of Certification.7 Healthcare organisations would benefit from encouraging study of safety science by all team members, including board members, and operationalising ways to achieve continuous learning as safety science expands.

As these and other activities gain momentum, the core agenda remains consistent, clear and urgent: to mainstream the preparation of health professionals’ awareness, skills, commitment and practical training about the scientific pursuit of safer care. Embracing the science of safety in medical education is crucial to the future health and well-being of patients, families and communities.

Progress

With an increased call for improved coordination of care and focus on patient safety across the care continuum, methods for improving handoffs and communication among teams, providers and patients are gaining traction.9 Today the focus on population health and market-specific shifts in payment models serve as incentives for greater care integration and coordination.

Progress has been made to develop systems and structures to encourage and incentivise care integration. Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) have brought together groups of health providers to incentivise better quality care at a lower cost. Likewise, the development of the patient-centred medical home aims to reorganise and reinvigorate primary care, and early evidence shows promise in achieving lower costs, improved patient experience and better care quality.10

Other encouraging examples of improved care integration include Project Re-Engineered Discharge (Project RED), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded Project ACHIEVE (Achieving Patient-Centered Care and Optimized Health In Care Transitions by Evaluating the Value of Evidence) and the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing–led Community Aging in Place: Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE). For example, Project RED developed strategies to improve the hospital discharge process to promote patient safety and has been proven to reduce rehospitalisations and yield high rates of patient satisfaction.11

Finally, the increase in employed physicians and continued refinement of the electronic health record have accelerated care integration. Improving interoperability of health information technology has been a major initiative at the federal level to improve information flow across the entire care continuum.12

Remaining challenges

Despite incremental improvement, coordination and integration of care remains difficult, particularly for patients with multiple chronic conditions.13 Even with a national push towards more integrated care models (perhaps most focused on the development of ACOs), so far results towards safer, more coordinated care have been mixed. Furthermore, care integration issues are compounded for older adults. One study found that the average Medicare beneficiary spent about 17 days in contact with the healthcare system through an average of 3.4 different clinicians. Only 55% of these individuals coordinated their care principally with a single primary care physician.14

Structural changes alone will not ensure optimal care integration. Strong clinician leadership and patient engagement will be required to further improve care coordination. Involving patients and families in the codesign of care, especially around coordination and care delivered in the home, will help identify unmet needs and educational deficits.

Care integration remains perhaps the most challenging of the transforming concepts because of the fragmentation of the US healthcare system. When Americans are asked to reflect on the integration of care from their own experiences, some refer to the term ‘healthcare system’ as an oxymoron.15 Individuals responsible for coordinating care and helping patients navigate the care system include primary care physicians, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and care managers as well as health plan and delivery system personnel. As care becomes more complex and shared among more providers, it is essential to improve both processes (eg, teamwork, communication and patient engagement) and technologies (eg, EHRs) for patients and providers.

Progress

Multiple initiatives are underway to increase awareness of the importance of joy and meaning in work and workforce safety. The National Academy of Medicine and several healthcare professional groups and insurers, such as the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the American Nurses Association (ANA Enterprise), the American Medical Association and the Harvard Risk Management Foundation are addressing the issue of resilience and burnout.20 IHI has developed a framework for increasing joy in work that recommends domains such as reward and recognition, choice and autonomy, camaraderie and teamwork and physical and psychological safety.21 Some have observed that the widely accepted goals of the Triple Aim22 should be expanded to include workforce safety and joy and meaning in work—the Quadruple Aim.23 24

Regarding healthcare workforce physical safety, noteworthy efforts are proceeding. With the support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently launched an initiative to encourage hospitals and healthcare facilities to implement safety and health management systems to prevent injuries among their workforce and patients.17 Similarly, The Joint Commission has provided detailed reports and tools for improving workforce safety and reducing workplace violence.25

Remaining challenges

Despite these efforts, according to one recent study, more than half of US physicians suffer from burnout.26 Among critical care nurses, 25%–33% have symptoms of severe burnout syndrome.27 Physicians do have higher rates of burnout than the general public and they also suffer higher rates of depression and suicide.28 The effects of psychological, emotional and physical harm to the workforce surface in the form of litigation, lost work hours, employee turnover and inability to attract newcomers to caring professions. With healthcare reform, pay-for-performance, the introduction of electronic health records and other innovations, healthcare workers spend less time directly caring for patients—further draining energy, meaning and joy.

Compounding the issue, a recent survey found that only 23% of hospital boards review workplace safety dashboards.29 Our healthcare workforce is endangered, and without a healthy, engaged and supported workforce, safer patient care will remain elusive.

Progress

With the increasing use of decision aids, patient portals, OpenNotes, care engagement plans and the spread of Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs), healthcare leaders and clinicians are beginning to understand the power of engaging patients and families as integral partners. The OpenNotes programme has demonstrated that patients can contribute to preventing or mitigating errors.31 32 Patient experience data are being used more widely and effectively. Mandates from CMS, the National Committee for Quality Assurance and other payers for use and improvement of Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient experience survey data are linked to improved performance and outcomes. Healthcare systems, hospitals and ambulatory practices are also beginning to incorporate patient preferences into care design by including patients and their families as active participants in codesign and research studies funded by the PCORI. The internationally observed ‘What Matters to You? Day’ aims to encourage meaningful conversations between patients, families and providers.

Patient and family perspectives are valuable in many arenas, from design of the physical environment and care coordination plans to reporting safety concerns and participation in root cause analyses. Patient engagement should be authentic and take place across the continuum of care from the bedside to the boardroom to national policy committees. The newly established Patient Experience Policy Forum affiliated with the Beryl Institute is advocating for patient and family partnerships in codesign and policy-making nationally.

Remaining challenges

While some exemplary organisations are fully engaging patients in the care process, ample opportunities for improvement remain. Many organisations lack effective PFACs and have not devoted resources to train staff in shared decision-making practices or to offer evidence-based decision aids. The current fee-for-service payment system does not encourage clinicians to spend the time needed to communicate with patients nor to elicit their preferences. Many organisations still lack process improvement skills to support integrating better communication into clinical workflows. As care shifts from inpatient to ambulatory and home care settings, patients and families are becoming more responsible for delivering their own care. However, they may not be well equipped to manage complicated medication regimens, activities of daily living, medical devices or infection control procedures.33

Overwhelming evidence indicates that collecting patient feedback and including patients as equal partners in their care support improvement in both patient experience of care and clinical outcomes.34 Opportunities remain to partner with patients, families and communities to accelerate improvement in education, patient satisfaction and quality of care.

Progress

Today, the call for greater transparency in healthcare is growing louder. Consumers have begun to post reviews of their physicians, care teams and healthcare organisations on online review platforms. Moreover, some healthcare systems are now collecting and posting information from patient experience surveys at the service or physician level. Recently, several health systems have begun to provide forums for free-response comments online, often with positive results.36

The 2005 Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act and the rise of patient safety organisations have facilitated increased transparency among clinicians and healthcare organisations. Additionally, collaboratives like Solutions for Patient Safety, a network of more than 130 children’s hospitals working together to eliminate serious harm, have shown compelling evidence that sharing data, successes and failures can markedly accelerate learning and improvement.37

Healthcare is also seeing greater transparency between patients and clinicians in the aftermath of adverse events. A growing number of Communication and Resolution Programmes have been established, fuelled by growing evidence that prompt disclosure, honesty and apology following patient injury can decrease medical malpractice liability and improve the satisfaction of all parties.38 Toolkits are now available to promote such programmes.39

Remaining challenges

Many challenges to achieving full transparency remain.40 A recent survey found that less than 40% of quality and safety leaders rated their board’s understanding of disclosure and apology as ‘high’, and even fewer felt their boards had a comprehensive understanding of safety concepts related to transparency about error and harm.29 Transparency within organisations and between providers requires creating an environment of trust as well as improving technology and processes to ensure they are efficient, effective and promote regular open and honest communication and data sharing.

Transparency with the public is equally challenging. Hospital and clinician concerns about litigation; reputational costs and the accuracy, interpretability and comprehensiveness of safety metrics need to be addressed. Additionally, national rating systems and websites, including Leapfrog and US News & World Report, share few common scores and often generate more confusion than clarity. For example, as of 2015, no hospital was rated as a high performer by all four major national US rating systems.41 In the future, data must be understandable and actionable for both patients and provider organisations.

As more organisations publicly share their quality, safety and patient experience data, transparency will be increasingly demanded by all stakeholders. To benefit patients as well as care providers, organisations will need to prepare their boards, clinicians and staff for a more transparent healthcare system. Transparency at these levels will eventually facilitate decision making about where to receive care and where to work, but a long road lies ahead to make this comparable and uniform across all health entities.