President’s Message

Patient Safety: It’s All about Teamwork

We all remember when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that up to 98,000 lives are lost each year to preventable medical errors. Now, I’d like to burn another number into your consciousness: 100,000. That’s the number of lives the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) says we can save in one year if we introduce proven patient-safety “best practices” in hospitals across the country.

Since the IOM report six years ago, we’ve seen many significant patient-safety improvements. Now the practices that we know will reduce medical errors and save lives must be implemented on a much wider scale. That’s the main idea behind the IHI’s “100,000 Lives Campaign,” a nationwide bus tour that began in Boston on September 27. The 100,000 Lives Campaign has literally taken on the road what we have learned since the IOM report came out. This includes concrete actions that evidence-based studies have shown us do make a difference.

Because the MMS is a campaign team member, I had the privilege to address the gathering at the bus-tour kick-off event. I remarked that physicians weave patient safety into the very fabric of our professional lives. Safe, effective patient care requires vision, commitment, organization, resources, and -- most important -- teamwork. Consequently, the IHI is working in collaboration with national organizations devoted to improving patient safety, and in Massachusetts, with the MMS, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, MassPRO, and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors.

I’m pleased to report that all 67 acute-care hospitals in the Bay State have signed on to the 100,000 Lives Campaign, another important demonstration of teamwork. To participate in the campaign, a hospital must adopt at least one of six tactics proven to enhance patient safety, such as the deployment of Rapid Response Teams. These teams of clinicians bring critical-care expertise to the bedside in order to prevent avoidable patient deaths during hospitalizations.

Studies have shown that Rapid Response Teams can reduce postoperative deaths by 37 percent. Participating hospitals also agree to submit data on hospital mortality as a measure of tactic effectiveness. This will help us accurately assess the number of lives saved through our patient safety efforts.

As a member of the 100,000 Lives Campaign team, the MMS and its physicians are providing resources for the training of Rapid Response Teams in Massachusetts hospitals. The Society is proud to participate in this important patient-safety effort.

– Alan M. Harvey, M.D., M.B.A.