Burnout among health care professionals is widely understood as an organizational problem in health care. This study describes a longitudinal, institutional program to reduce burnout and improve provider wellness at an academic medical center. A longstanding crew resource management intervention led to a decreasing number of patient safety events, which the authors connect to culture change. The program also included provision of mindfulness training for trainees and faculty to promote resilience. They measured self-reported burnout at prespecified intervals and documented improvement over time. The authors conclude that the combination of team training and individual mindfulness education can reduce burnout. An Annual Perspective discussed the relationship between burnout and patient safety and reviewed interventions to address burnout among clinicians.

The AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators are publicly reported measures of hospital performance. This retrospective study of patient discharges from an academic medical center over a 2-year period found an association between Patient Safety Indicators and longer length of stay, unplanned readmissions, and mortality.

The AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) rely on hospital administrative data to screen for patient safety problems. This study used independent physician chart review to assess the reliability of PSI 11 (postoperative respiratory failure) in identifying clinically significant patient safety events and found a positive predictive value of 38.3%. The authors argue that PSI 11 should not be used as a measure for hospital performance.