The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) is an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that has diligently pursuing improving safety of patients for over a decade. NPSF remains the sole organization in the field with this singular focus.
The NPSF recently reported on five strategic concepts aimed at patient safety solutions created by their Lucian Leape Institute. These transforming concepts, thought to be essential to the success of patient safety work and requiring system-level attention and action, include the following:
- reforming medical education;
- enhanced consumer and patient involvement in patient care;
- the expectation of full transparency in patient care;
- care integration in and across health care organizations; and
- restoration of pride, meaning, and joy in professional work.
The full article can be found here, but here are some highlights about the Lucian Leape Institute itself and its mission:
The Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation has identified five strategic concepts designed to accelerate the integration of critical patient safety imperatives into the fabric of health care. These concepts challenge conventional wisdom, encourage new ways of thinking, and provide a visionary approach to removing the structural impediments to the adoption of patient safety solutions.
“By scope and intent, these transformational directives for the field strive to bring clarity to what is needed to drive change and ultimately deliver on the promise of patient safety,” explained Dr. Lucian Leape, a founding member of the Institute and renowned leader in patient safety.
The Institute functions as a think tank dedicated to providing strategic vision for the field, and distinguished members bring a wealth of knowledge to bear in support of the Institute’s efforts.
These thought leaders include Dr. Lucian Leape, Adjunct Professor of Health Policy, Harvard School of Public Health; Dr. Donald Berwick, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; James Conway, Senior Vice President, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; James Guest, President, Consumer Union; Dr. David Lawrence, Chairman and CEO (retired), Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; Julianne Morath, Chief Quality and Safety Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Dr. Dennis O’Leary, President Emeritus, The Joint Commission; Paul O’Neill, Former Chairman and CEO, Alcoa, and 72nd Secretary of the U.S. Treasury; Dr. Paul Gluck, Immediate Past Chair, National Patient Safety Foundation Board of Directors; and Diane Pinakiewicz, President, National Patient Safety Foundation.
Ms. Pinakiewicz praised the Institute’s leadership for “their unwavering commitment to creating a safer heath care system, applying their extensive experiences, expertise, and insights to not only create a vision for the future, but to develop actionable recommendations to influence change.”
Reform in Medical Education, the first concept addressed by the Institute, is the subject of a Roundtable comprised of Institute members and invited experts. “Medical education in the United States is heavily focused on the acquisition of scientific and clinical facts,” commented Dr. Leape, “but provides students with little of the knowledge and skills they need to communicate and work effectively with patients and colleagues.”
Recommendations and calls to action from the Roundtable will be issued in an Institute white paper, providing the strategic leverage necessary to influence the system, create change, and offer needed focus and direction for those working in the field.
