Patient Safety

The Seminole County Patient Safety Initiative

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The Seminole County Patient Safety Initiative began in 2006 as a cooperative effort of the Seminole County Medical Society, all three Seminole County hospitals, the Seminole County Health Department, and the University of Central Florida to address patient safety issues on a county-wide basis.  With this Initiative, Seminole County became the first county in the nation to address patient safety issues county-wide.  The components of the Initiative include:

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The Seminole County Patient Safety Summit

The Patient Safety Summit was held on April 22, 2006 at the Wayne Densch Conference Center at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford.  Physicians who attended the entire Summit earned "Advanced Patient Safety Certification”.  In addition to receiving a special certificate, the names of those attending were published in the Seminole County section of the Sunday, May 21, 2006 edition of the Orlando Sentinel.  Click here to view a photoshow of the Summit.

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The "Patient Safety in Seminole County” magazine

In conjunction with the Summit the Initiative over 2,000 “Patient Safety in Seminole County” magazines were published and distributed to Central Florida physicians. The magazine, which included articles contributed by Summit speakers, was an important way to get information about the Initiative to the entire Central Florida medical community. Download the Magazine (3.8MB PDF).

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Patient Safety Research & Bibliography

The Initiative is planning research studies to be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Eduardo Salas from the University of Central Florida to see if better teamwork can improve patient safety.  Click here to access recent patient safety articles written by Dr. Salas.

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The Patient Safety Council

A Patient Safety Councl was created to ensure the Summit goals and “culture of patient safety” in Seminole County are achieved. The Council meets three times a year to discuss current and proposed patient safety initiatives; to provide a forum for physician and hospital dialog on related issues; and to plot the future direction of patient safety in Seminole County.  Click here to learn more about the Council.

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Patient safety projects

The Improving Health Literacy project - materials from the "Ask Me 3" program and the American Medical Association are being used to improve healthcare literacy in Seminole County. The goal of this project is to bring public and physician attention to this issue, and to reduce medical errors through improved healthcare communication.  Click here to learn more about this project.

The Legible Handwriting project - this is an effort to minimize errors that may occur due to illegible physician handwriting in progress notes.  For more information about this project, click here.

The Seminole County MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus) Project - to improve recognition and handling MRSA county-wide.  For information about the MRSA Project, click here.  To read the 9/28/07 MRSA Committee Report, click here .  For information about MRSA, click here.

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Patient Safety Glossary & Links

To access a listing of patient safety entities, click here.

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PAWS

PAWS was created as a symbol of Seminole County patient safety efforts when the 2006 Seminole County Patient Safety Summit was held at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford.  To learn more about PAWS, click here.

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Patient Safety post on Wikipedia

Following the April 22, 2006 Seminole County Patient Safety Summit, SCMS member John Ryan, MD, took materials from the Summit and the "Patient Safety in Seminole County" magazine, and created a new post on "Patient Safety" in Wikipedia.  Over the last two years he added additional references and links, but by and large the current excellent posting is 99% a result of Dr. Ryan's labors.  Click here to check out this superb resource.

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Sentinel article on the Patient Safety Council

The efforts of the Seminole County Patient Safety Council were highlighted by reporter Andrea Stanley in the Sunday, February 25, 2007 edition of the Orlando Sentinel.  The Council is part of the Seminole County Patient Safety Initiative, and is currently engaged in several patient safety projects, such as its unique "Legible Handwriting" project.  To read Andrea's report, click here.

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Creating a Culture of Patient Safety

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By Glen F. Davis, MD
2006 President, Seminole County Medical Society

April - 2006

The medical community has always worked to improve patient care and minimize errors. However, the full magnitude and impact of medical errors was not appreciated until the 1990s, when several reports brought attention to this issue. Although the data in some of those papers is still questioned, the reports led to research which identified where improvements were needed. The reports also gave rise to the patient safety movement, which emphasizes improving systems to reduce errors, rather than focusing on individual mistakes.

The patient safety movement offers a tremendous opportunity for healthcare providers. Most of the proposed initiatives have the potential to provide significant benefits for physicians, hospitals and patients. Yet in spite of this, nationally the patient safety movement has been slow to catch on. Some of the reasons include a lack of acceptance of the problem, questions about the supporting data, and skepticism over some of the recommended solutions.

Seminole County has taken a unique approach on this issue. A Seminole County Patient Safety Initiative has been created to advance patient safety county-wide. The goal of the Initiative is to create a “culture of patient safety”— in which there is an obsession in the medical community with providing the best care possible, and an equal obsession with continually improving that care. The vision is for all involved in healthcare to partner in achieving this goal.

The Patient Safety Summit on April 22nd jumpstarted the Initiative. At the Summit, nationally renowned speakers presented on the problem, some potential solutions, and other exciting options. For a few months, information about the Summit will be kept on the SCMS website.

To ensure that a “culture of patient safety” becomes and remains a reality, a Seminole County Patient Safety Council has been created. The Council will consist of physician, hospital, and patient representatives, and will meet regularly to discuss patient safety issues on a county-wide basis.

A “Patient Safety in Seminole County” magazine has been published to help spread information about the Initiative to as many Central Florida physicians as possible. The magazine contains articles written by the Summit speakers about various patient safety efforts, and information about our PAWS initiative—designed to create a unique and positive patient safety message. Physicians are being encouraged to put the magazine in waiting rooms so patients can learn about patient safety, and about how they, too, can help reduce medical errors.

There are potentially many additional facets and benefits to our Patient Safety Initiative. Our hope is that the entire medical community will join in our effort to make this effort successful, so we can be assured that healthcare in Central Florida will remain the best and safest possible.

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