Toward zero harm: Mackenzie Health's journey toward becoming a high reliability organization and eliminating avoidable harm.
Wilson M-A, Sinno M, Hacker Teper M, et al. Toward zero harm: Mackenzie Health's journey toward becoming a high reliability organization and eliminating avoidable harm. J Patient Saf. 2022;18(7):680-685. doi:10.1097/pts.0000000000000978.
Achieving zero preventable harm is an ongoing goal for health systems. In this study, researchers developed a five-part strategy to achieve high-reliability and eliminate preventable harm at one regional health system in Canada – (1) engage leadership, (2) develop an organization-specific patient safety framework, (3) monitor specific quality aims (e.g., high-risk, high-cost areas), (4) standardize the incident review process, including the use of root cause analysis, and (5) communicate progress to staff in real-time via electronic dashboards. One-year post-implementation, researchers observed an increase in patient safety incident reporting and improvements in safety culture, as well as decreases in adverse events such as falls, pressure injuries and healthcare-acquired infections.