The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) decision support system and targeted prevention program were designed to help mitigate risk factors for overdose and suicide among veterans who are prescribed opioids and/or with opioid use disorder (OUD) and are served by the VHA.¹ Veterans, particularly those prescribed opioids, experience overdose and suicide events at roughly twice

Understanding the ways in which human factors, such as non-technical skills, influence individual and team performance can ultimately improve patient safety, particularly in high-intensity settings such as operating rooms.

The relationship between burnout among healthcare workers and poor patient safety outcomes has been well-documented

The handshake antimicrobial stewardship program (HS-ASP) was developed and implemented at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO). In 2014, the CHOC HS-ASP team began labeling specific interventions as “Great Catches” which were considered to have altered, or had the potential to alter, the patient’s trajectory of care. CHOC researchers used these "Great Catches" to identify potential diagnostic errors.

Medication administration errors are a common source of patient harm.

ECHO-Care Transitions (ECHO-CT) intends to ensure continuity of care and alleviate the risk of patient safety issues, notably medication errors, occurring because of hospital transition. With funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) adapted Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) to connect receiving multidisciplinary skilled nursing facility (SNF) teams with a multidisciplinary team at the discharging hospital.

The MOQI seeks to reduce avoidable hospitalization among nursing home residents by placing an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) within the care team with the goal of early identification of resident decline. In addition to the APRN, the MOQI involves nursing home teams focused on use of tools to better detect acute changes in resident status, smoother transitions between hospitals and nursing homes, end-of-life care, and use of health information technology to facilitate communication with peers. As a result of the innovation, resident hospitalizations declined.

The Behavioral Health Vital Signs (BHVS) screener is a patient questionnaire input into the electronic health record for depressive symptoms, alcohol and substance use, and interpersonal violence. Widespread staff education and a standardized workflow were developed to ensure that BHVS was implemented in all primary care clinics within the San Francisco Health Network.

The Patient Safe-D(ischarge) program used standardized tools to educate patients about their discharge needs, test understanding of those needs, and improve medication reconciliation at admission and discharge. A quasi-randomized controlled trial of the program found that it significantly increased patients' understanding and knowledge of their diagnoses, treatment, and required follow-up care.

The Hospital at Home^sm program provides hospital-level care (including daily physician and nurse visits, diagnostic testing, treatment, and other support) in a patient's home as a full substitute for acute hospital care for selected conditions that are common among seniors. Studies have shown that the Hospital at Home program results in lower length of stay, costs, readmission rates, and complications than does traditional inpatient care, and surveys indicate higher levels of patient and family member satisfaction than with traditional care.

Care management staff (such as nurses, community health workers, health coaches, social workers, or other clinical staff) use software-based protocols to screen older clients' medications and collaborate with pharmacists and physicians to reduce the risk of medication errors and adverse effects. The HomeMeds Medication Safety Program identified and addressed targeted medication problems, leading to fewer cases of therapeutic duplication and more appropriate medication use for cardiovascular medications, NSAIDS, psychotropics and overall medication use.

Project Nurture provides patients with substance use disorder (SUD) prenatal care, inpatient maternity care, postpartum care, and infant pediatric care. Women enrolled in the program receive Level 1 addiction treatment (i.e., outpatient services) from an integrated care team that includes MDs, nurse practitioners, doulas, certified recovery mentors, certified alcohol and drug counselors, and social workers and other mental health professionals. If indicated, they can also receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT) using methadone or buprenorphine.

Trauma staff at The Alfred Hospital use a computerized decision support system to guide the care of patients during the critical first 60 minutes of resuscitation. Known as the Trauma Reception and Resuscitation System (TR&R®), this program generates prompts based on more than 40 algorithms and real-time clinical data, including patient vital signs and information entered by a trauma nurse. Displayed on a large overhead monitor, these prompts are used by clinicians to direct the care of trauma patients and to facilitate documentation and communication.

The team at Geisinger sought to develop an outpatient addiction medicine specialty program that incorporated medication-assisted treatment (MAT), peer support, and connection to community counseling services and uses data-driven insights to monitor and improve patient outcomes. As a result of this program, they have been able to reduce all-cause mortality among these patients, increase patient engagement in substance use disorder treatment, and have seen a reduction in the prescription quantities of controlled substances.

Building on the company’s experience as a Hospital Engagement Network participant in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Partnership for Patients, LifePoint Health created the National Quality Program (NQP) based on a commitment to leadership, performance improvement, and culture of safety. .

Nudges are a change in the way choices are presented or information is framed that can have a large, but predictable, impact on medical decision-making, for both patients and providers without actually restricting individual choice. The Nudge Unit at Penn Medicine focuses on a range of different care improvement projects, including safety initiatives, with this framework in mind that are designed to improve workflow, support evidence-based decision-making, and create sustained changes in patient engagement and daily behaviors.¹

Multidisciplinary teams at the University of Kansas Hospital sought to improve patient outcomes from obstetric emergencies by rehearsing team responses in simulations to emergent situations that can occur during a delivery. Using the PRactical Obstetric MultiProfessional Training (or PROMPT) curriculum, teams rehearsed flexible emergency care scenarios in order to achieve an optimal response, and then used this experience to improve their response to a real emergency.

Social worker/nurse practitioner teams collaborate with a larger interdisciplinary team and primary care physicians to develop and implement individualized care plans for seniors and other high-risk patients. The social worker/nurse practitioner team also proactively manages and coordinates the patient's care on an ongoing basis through regular telephone and in-person contact with both patients and providers.

Under a program known as the Care Transitions Intervention ®, a Transitions Coach ® encourages patients who are transferring from either a hospital or a short-term skilled nursing facility stay to home to assert a more active role in their self-care. The program has consistently reduced 30-day hospital readmissions and costs as well as 180-day hospital readmissions, even in heavily penetrated Medicare Advantage markets in which the reduction of hospital use has been an explicit focus for many years.