MHA Podcast Covers Patient Safety Awareness Week feat. The MHA Keystone Center

MI care matters
Adam Novak
Adam Novak, director of safety & quality at the MHA Keystone Center.

The MHA released another episode of the MiCare Champion Cast, which features interviews with healthcare policy experts in Michigan on key issues that impact healthcare and the health of communities.

On episode 27, Adam Novak, director of safety & quality at the MHA Keystone Center, joins during Patient Safety Awareness Week to provide a refresh on the work of the patient safety organization (PSO) along with resources that are available to Michigan hospitals and health systems through the Keystone Center.

In the episode, Novak shares details of the upcoming Keystone Center Safe Patient Mobility and Handling Conference, a free event on April 13 that will provide participants with a better understanding of how caregiver and patient safety are connected. As he shares, participants will view live simulations demonstrating best practices for patient handling and discuss how to avoid care activities that cause caregiver injury and compromise quality of care. Risk and safety officers, physicians, nurses, physical and occupational therapists and worker’s compensation staff are encouraged to register.

The episode is available to stream on SpotifyYouTubeApple Podcasts and SoundCloud.

The MiCare Champion Cast is part of the statewide #MiCareMatters campaign, launched in 2017, which aims to build a network of citizens — “MiCare Champions” — who will be called upon to engage in advocacy efforts to protect access to affordable healthcare services in Michigan.

Members with questions or who would like to submit ideas for future podcasts should contact Lucy Ciaramitaro at the MHA.

Patient Safety Awareness Week Promotes Understanding of Safer Healthcare

Celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week March 13 through 19. Patient Safety Awareness Week is an annual recognition intended to encourage all to learn more about healthcare safety. Additionally, it highlights the importance of patient safety, celebrates progress to improve care and focuses on pertinent issues facing healthcare teams.

Since its inception in 2003 as a federally listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), the MHA Keystone Center has provided hundreds of learning opportunities for its members to share evidence-based practices. It has collected, analyzed and aggregated adverse event data to transform it into sustained clinical improvements and an overall culture shift in Michigan hospitals.

Patient Safety Awareness Week presents an opportunity to focus on the organizational efforts to make care safer for patients and employees. Below are ways hospitals can celebrate:

  • Nominate an improvement team for the MHA Advancing Safe Care Award by March 25. The award focuses on four key issues – safety culture, quality improvement, transparency and health equity.
  • Recognize patient safety champions by submitting a nomination for the quarterly MHA Keystone Center PSO Speak-up! Award. The award honors individuals or teams who speak up to prevent potential harm to patients or other staff members.
  • Participate in the MHA Workplace Safety Collaborative by submitting Occupational and Safety Health Administration data in KeyMetrics, the MHA Keystone Center’s data reporting platform.
  • Continue to submit data in the PSO’s event reporting platform, which provides real-time surveillance of patient safety trends.

Additional avenues to celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week are noted on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement website. Members with questions may contact the MHA Keystone Center.