Tag: Patient Safety and Quality

How Policy Shapes the Patient Experience: Reflections from a Public Policy Fellow

Patient Safety and Quality, MHA Rounds, Member News

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Patient Safety Congress brought together voices from across the healthcare spectrum March 9 – 11, uniting leaders, learners and advocates in a shared goal of delivering safer care to all patients. Among them was Esha Elahi, government relations & public policy fellow at the MHA, who dives into what her current role has taught her, what she learned at the IHI Conference and how those experiences are setting the tone for her next chapter in healthcare.

How has your experience as a Government Relations & Public Policy Fellow at the MHA shaped the way you interpret conversations about patient safety?

Elahi: My experience as a fellow has had a huge impact on the way I interpret and engage in conversations about patient safety. At the MHA, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with health professionals from a variety of disciplines, including doctors, nurses, social workers, administrators and policy experts. Listening to these diverse perspectives exposed me to the complexity of ensuring patient safety and all that goes on behind the scenes. It’s not just about training our frontline workers. Every person within a healthcare setting plays an important role in promoting patient safety. Likewise, for change to occur within health systems, we need multiple perspectives at the table.

How did attending the IHI Patient Safety Congress deepen or expand your understanding of the policies that influence safety in care settings?

Elahi: The IHI Patient Safety Congress helped me recognize just how critical workplace culture is in healthcare and how it directly affects patient outcomes. While healthcare systems often have protocols in place to support patient safety, I started to ask myself: what happens when someone notices a safety risk but doesn’t feel supported enough to speak up?

One session that really stuck with me was “Advancing High Reliability: The Role of Psychological Safety in Supporting Cultural Change,” led by Amjed S. Baghdadi and Amanda Laorenza. It focused on the importance of psychological safety in building high-reliability organizations; workplaces where staff feel empowered to voice concerns and stop potential harm before it happens. It echoes that everyone at a hospital plays a role in patient safety, whether you are in direct contact or not.

That session made me think more deeply about what protections exist for healthcare workers who report safety or quality concerns. At the MHA, we have initiatives like the MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award, which recognizes hospitals where staff take action to prevent harm through open communication. It’s one way to reduce preventable incidents caused by miscommunication or silence.

The conversations at the Congress also reminded me of the advocacy work being done at the MHA around protecting healthcare workers, including efforts to pass legislation addressing violence in healthcare settings. Policies such as Public Acts 271 and 272 of 2023 are essential; not just for staff safety, but also for maintaining high-quality care for patients.

Were there any conversations at the congress that highlighted the intersection of policy and frontline care delivery in a way that resonated with your work?

Elahi: The session “Personal Experience to Professional Expertise: Using One Case of Maternal Morbidity for Advocacy,” led by Dr. Charity S. Watkins, resonated with the efforts I’ve been involved in at the MHA. Maternal health has been a key priority for the association. Dr. Watkins shared data on the status of maternal healthcare in the United States, which has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries and that 84% of maternal deaths in the U.S. are preventable. Black women giving birth are three to four times more likely to die while giving birth and twice more likely to experience a life-threatening medical event during childbirth. These facts underscore the importance of the work we’re doing at MHA to improve maternal health outcomes.

What advice would you give to other future providers about understanding the policy side of patient care?

Elahi: Whether you’ve worked in the advocacy-space before or this type of work is brand new to you, understanding the impact of policy on your practice, medicine and on patient care is crucial. If there’s an issue or topic within medicine you’re passionate about changing or improving, there’s a chance there’s some type of policy in motion. Getting involved in public policy and advocacy efforts can seem quite daunting, but you might be surprised at how natural it comes to you. Physicians are naturally inclined with a mindset of service. Scaling this up by sharing your personal stories with stakeholder groups or lawmakers to improve policy is an amazing way to service future patients and community members.

MHA Upcoming PFE Webinars Focus on Advancing Patient-Centered Care

Patient Safety and Quality

The MHA, in conjunction with its statewide Person & Family Engagement (PFE) Advisory Council, is excited to offer the PFE Improvement Sprints, a webinar series designed to help hospitals and health systems amplify PFE efforts. The foundation for the PFE Improvement Sprint is the MHA Roadmap to Person and Family Engagement, which outlines standardized definitions, policies and practices to help leaders and staff develop or improve PFE efforts across their organization.

The first webinar, Hospital Staffing and Structures Needed to Support and Coordinate PFE Activities, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. April 30. Speakers will share examples of ways to build leadership support and engage, whether the hospital is launching a Patient and Family Advisory Council or engaging patients within different patient care units.

The second webinar, Deploying PFE Roadmap Strategies to Improve Patient Safety and Quality, Outcomes, Experiences, and Support Hospital Priorities, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. May 21. Speakers will outline how to involve patients and families in achieving better care outcomes, like understanding medications and how to involve patient advisors in fall prevention processes.

These webinars are free of charge. Chief nurse and medical executives, patient experience and relations professionals, quality and safety professionals, social work professionals, case managers and nursing staff are encouraged to register.

Questions about MHA membership or registration for the webinar series should be directed to Brenda Carr at the MHA.

Addressing Disparities in Maternal Care: A Conversation During Black Maternal Health Week

Member News, MHA Rounds

In observance of Black Maternal Health Week this April 11-17, Carlie Austin, maternal infant health policy specialist, MHA, and Sarah Scranton, vice president, safety & quality and executive director, MHA Keystone Center, share the importance of addressing disparities in maternal care and actions to reduce them.

  1. Conversations about disparities in care are difficult and nuanced. How can hospitals and health systems facilitate productive conversations about the disparities that exist in maternal healthcare?

Carlie: Culture shifts must occur at the societal, system and interpersonal level to enact meaningful change. Healthcare needs to adopt a transparency-first culture where acknowledging our challenges is not only accepted, but encouraged. We cannot address systemic imbalances without first acknowledging our roles and limitations. Michigan hospitals and health systems are responsible for creating cultures in which their staff, partners and patients feel safe to provide constructive feedback. While it is important for our hospitals and systems to create space for transparent discussions, they also deserve the same from society. For hospitals and health systems to candidly acknowledge their roles and limitations, they must feel safe. Therefore, assessing and addressing the reasons why systems feel unsafe in their abilities to do so is a vital aspect of the conversation that largely goes unheard.

Sarah: To Carlie’s point, culture plays a pivotal role in health outcomes. Quality care cannot exist without equitable care. While we have made great strides toward celebrating staff who speak up to prevent harm to patients and staff, we must also welcome dialogue that extends beyond specific cases. Data shows that racial disparities in care are systemic, so we must be willing to examine all aspects of our systems and processes that may impact patient care.

  1. As anchor institutions in their communities, how can hospitals and health systems foster cross-sector collaboration that addresses systemic issues like maternal health disparities?

Sarah: Hospitals and health systems are uniquely positioned to improve health, but many other organizations play a critical role in the wellbeing of communities. While acute care has been the primary focus of health equity efforts, social determinants of health must also be recognized. Hospitals invest heavily in their communities, forging strong relationships with nonprofit organizations, local businesses and policymakers. An unwavering commitment to collaboration is essential to eliminate systemic challenges.

Carlie: Effective collaborations start with how you view the problem. Hospitals take meaningful action to improve the quality of care during delivery and the immediate days after. However, we know the health of birthing people is not determined at the point of labor and delivery. There remains a substantial gap in improving preconception health and postpartum health. Birthing people are impacted by a plethora of factors external to the hospital or health system’s direct control; however, it is essential that everyone broadens their belief about their responsibility of the problem and their ability to reduce disparities beyond their historical purview. It must be a collective effort with a shared accountability across the continuum if we want to ensure population-level change.

  1. What are some immediate actions Michigan hospitals and health systems can take to improve care for Black birthing people?

Carlie: Examine the audiences we are engaging to address disparities in care. While messaging toward decision-makers and hospital leaders is immensely valuable, we must recognize that it is our responsibility to deliver our messages and broaden our conversations to include those we aim to reach or represent. I love the saying, “nothing about us, without us”. Adopting that message in this context means hospitals and health systems should evaluate their engagement with those they are making decisions about and ensure they are intentionally including those of interest in the decision-making process. This will lead to a more robust and tailored approach to addressing pervasive healthcare disparities.

Sarah: Collaboration is one of the most valuable aspects of improving care. The MHA Keystone Center recommends members prioritize the following collaborative initiatives and events this year to supplement existing efforts to reduce disparities in maternal healthcare.

Members with questions may contact the MHA Keystone Center.