Patient and family engagement is essential to effective and safe diagnosis. OurDX is a previsit online engagement tool to help identify opportunities to improve diagnostic safety in patients and families living with chronic conditions. In this study, researchers implemented OurDX in specialty and primary care clinics at two academic healthcare organizations and examined the potential safety issues and whether patient/family contributions were integrated into the post-visit notes. Qualitative analysis of 450 OurDX reports found that participants contributed important information about the diagnostic process. Participants with diagnostic concerns were more likely to raise concerns about the diagnostic process (e.g., access barriers, problems with tests/referrals, communication breakdowns), which may represent diagnostic blind spots.

… J Am Med Inform Assoc … Patients and families are encouraged … safety through OurDX: a previsit online engagement tool. J Am Med Inform Assoc. Epub 2023 Jan 24 10.1093/jamia/ocad003 …

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in an increasing range of health care situations to address a variety of care needs. This commentary examines the impact of AI on patient safety, in diagnosis, and on the limitations of AI that affect reliability.

… and family engagement in safety. … Bell SK, Bourgeois F, Dong J, et al. Patient identification of diagnostic safety …

Striving for “zero harm” in healthcare has been advocated as a patient safety goal. In this article, the authors discuss the unintended consequences of “zero harm” goals and provide an alternative approach emphasizing learning and resilience goals (leveled-target goal setting, equal emphasis goals, data-driven learning, and developmental – rather than performance – goals).

… J Healthc Qual … Medical errors in the neonatal intensive … care unit threaten patient safety . This children’s hospital implemented a robust process improvement program … including healthcare-acquired infection. … Nether KG,  Thomas EJ, Khan A, et al. Implementing a robust process …

… J Perinatol … Patients in the neonatal intensive care unit … seven days of admission was 6.2%. … Shafer GJ, Singh H, Thomas EJ, et al. Frequency of diagnostic errors in the … intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study. J Perinatol. Epub 2022 Mar 4. doi: 10.1038/s41372-022-01359-9. …

… emotional, physical, and financial harm . … Bell SK,  Dong J, Ngo L, et al. Diagnostic error experiences of patients and …

… take contextual factors into consideration. … Ranji SR, Thomas EJ. Research to improve diagnosis: time to study the …

This qualitative study explored the long-term impacts experienced by patients and family members involved in medical harm events. Participants described psychological, social/behavioral, and financial impacts and more than half reported ongoing physical impacts.

… J Patient Saf Risk Manag … Effective communication between … birth events: experiences of parents and clinicians. J Patient Saf Risk Manag. 2021;26(5):200–206. …

… each step of the diagnostic process. … Bell SK, Bourgeois F, DesRoches CM, et al. Filling a gap in safety metrics: …

… and drivers of safety culture. … Bisbey TM, Kilcullen MP, Thomas EJ, et al. Safety culture: an integration of existing …

This article reports findings from a survey of pediatric trainees at two large children’s hospitals on attitudes and behaviors in regard to speaking up about traditional safety threats and unprofessional behavior. While trainees more commonly observed unprofessional behavior than safety threats, they are less likely to speak up when presented with unprofessional behavior.

… J Patient Saf Risk Manag … This editorial discusses priority … wellness, and showing gratitude for staff. … Wu AW, Buckle P, Haut ER, et al. Supporting the emotional well-being of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Patient Saf Risk Manag. 2020;25(3):93–96. doi: …

… can affect team performance.  … Tannenbaum SI, Traylor AM, Thomas EJ, et al. Managing teamwork in the face of pandemic: …

Achieving “zero harm” has been advocated as a patient safety goal. This editorial proposes that the conversation shift from striving to achieve absolute safety (Zero Harm) towards actively managing risk using both reactive and proactive approaches to safety management.

… stated at least one emotional impact, avoiding the doctor(s) or facility(s) involved in the error, and two-thirds of respondents … involved in the error. … Prentice JC, Bell SK, Thomas EJ, et al. Association of open communication and the …

Using qualitative methods, this study sought to understand parent perceptions of patient safety in the NICU. The authors present a conceptual model of ‘parents as partners’ in NICU patient safety, emphasizing the importance of clinicians who are present, intentional, and respectful and highlighting factors influencing the parent-clinician partnership, such as communication and teamwork practices.

Prior research has found that perceptions about safety climate varies across neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This large cross-sectional study examining the impact of caregiver perceptions of safety climate on clinical outcomes found that stronger safety climates were associated with lower risk of healthcare-associated infections, but climate did not affect mortality rates.