PSA: Friend or Foe — Part 1

Highlights from April town hall meeting about patient safety alert reporting

A medical staff town hall on April 10 reviewed Salem Health’s patient safety alert incident reporting system and medical staff peer review. Dr. Williams led the event, an informal panel that included contributions from the following:

• Dan Costa, MD, chair of the Committee for Professionalism
• Misha Mohindra, MD, chair of the Credentials Committee
• Kevin Thompson, MD, chair of the medical specialty department
• Jeff Loa, MD, co-captain of the Medical Staff Engagement Baby A3
• Ed Austin, MD, and Amy Dourgarian, MD, members of the Multidisciplinary Peer Review Committee
• Sarah Horn, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BE, RNC-NIC, chief nursing officer
• Chris Clarke, MD, medical staff president

Dr. Thompson started by describing how far the medical staff has come in developing a peer review system within which the medical staff can feel supported. Dr. Williams talked about the importance of robust reporting systems in all industries in which safety is a paramount factor, but especially in health care. She also discussed the necessity of having careful processes for monitoring performance and outcomes.

Dr. Williams addressed several myths and facts about reporting at Salem Hospital. Highlights of this conversation included the following information:

• Fewer than 3% of PSAs are filed anonymously.
• There is not a disproportionately high number of PSAs reported by select individuals (“super reporters”).
• Only 5.4% of all 5,087 PSAs filed in 2018 involved medical staff.
• Less than 1% of the 5,087 PSAs filed in 2018 were related to concerns about interactions between physicians and nurses

Dr. Williams described the review processes for PSAs and medical staff peer review. She also explained how peer review information is shared with the Credentials Committee, Medical Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.

See the town hall summary and review the complete slide presentation.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the town hall highlights in a subsequent Common Ground newsletter.