In the news

Presentations and coverage of recent work by the Center

How to engage with patients who have been harmed and move toward reconciliation

April 2024

Melinda Van Niel, Program Director for Communication, Apology and Resolution (CARe), and co-authors write about communication and resolution programs for the latest issue of Quality Management in Health Care.

Read the article

Delivery at an inadequate level of maternal care is associated with severe maternal morbidity

March 1, 2024

Betsy Lehman Center researchers publish data that supports implementing levels of maternal care as a strategy to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. 

Read the article

Godwin K. Osei-Poku awarded Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize

December 18, 2023

Godwin Osei-Poku, Associate Director of Research at the Betsy Lehman Center, was awarded the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for his article on severe maternal morbidity in birthing people with opioid use disorder, published in Women's Health Issues in 2023.

Read more

Barbara Fain on health care safety in Massachusetts

November 27, 2023

Barbara Fain, Executive Director of the Betsy Lehman Center, joins the Codcast to discuss ongoing efforts to respond to and reduce medical errors.

Listen to the podcast

Strategies for communication and apology are critical for frontline staff

September 7, 2023

Authors detail strategies to combat the long-ingrained deny-and-defend model of responding to adverse events, highlighting the Betsy Lehman Center's CARe program as a model.

Read the article

Risk of severe maternal morbidity in birthing people with opioid use disorder

September 2023

Betsy Lehman Center researchers publish data that shows birthing people with opioid use disorder are at an elevated risk of severe maternal morbidity, underscoring the need for improved access to treatment and increased support.

Read the article

Peer support helps clinicians and staff throughout the state

August 2023

The Betsy Lehman Center's Virtual Peer Support Network is featured in the Quality and Patient Safety Division's newsletter, FIRST Do No Harm, alongside other peer support programs the Center helped develop across the state.

Read the newsletter

Avoiding medical errors must become a priority

May 23, 2023

The Boston Globe Editorial Board supports funding in the state budget for the Betsy Lehman Center to implement its road map to improve safety in health care.

Read the editorial

Hospital injuries to patients and health care workers rose significantly during pandemic

May 17, 2023

Executive director Barbara Fain speaks to the Boston Globe about the pandemic's effect on patient safety and the need for better data statewide.

Read the article

Hospitals interested in safety surveillance pilot

May 15, 2023

State House News Service highlights a proposed budget amendment that would fund multiple safety initiatives, including a pilot of "automated safety event surveillance" at Massachusetts hospitals.

Read the article

Support for the Roadmap in CommonWealth

May 11, 2023

With small investment, medical errors can be prevented, says Paul Hattis in an opinion piece for CommonWealth.

Read the commentary

The Boston Globe highlights Roadmap to Health Care Safety

April 26, 2023

This article highlights the new Roadmap to Health Care Safety, a statewide strategic plan released on April 26, 2023 at the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum in Boston.

Read the article

Communication, apology, and resolution: Learning and trends over the last two decades

December 28, 2022

Authors discuss the benefits of Communication, Apology and Resolution (CARe) and explain challenges and lessons learned as they scale the model statewide.

Read the article

M.E. Malone on creating safer medical care

July 25, 2022

M.E. Malone, Deputy Director of the Betsy Lehman Center, is on the latest episode of We’ve Got Issues, a podcast from Issues Management Group. They discuss the origins of the Center and our sepsis public awareness campaign.

Listen to the episode

Risk of severe maternal morbidity in birthing people with opioid use disorder

June 6, 2022

Godwin Osei-Poku, Research Analytics Manager at the Betsy Lehman Center, presents a poster at Academy Health's Annual Research Meeting.

Download the poster

Racial and ethnic disparities in patient safety indicators in Massachusetts

June 5, 2022

Julia Prentice, Research Director at the Betsy Lehman Center, presents a poster at Academy Health's Annual Research Meeting.

Download the poster

Differences in patient outcomes after outpatient GI endoscopy across settings

May 27, 2022

Betsy Lehman Center researcher Dr. Meng-Yun Li discusses her article from the June issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Watch the video

Safety trade-offs in home care during COVID-19

September 17, 2021

In this study published in the journal Patient Safety, Betsy Lehman Center researchers used focus groups and surveys to learn more about the experiences of home care workers during the pandemic.

Read the article

Racial and ethnic inequities in severe maternal morbidity in Massachusetts

June 17, 2021

Godwin Osei-Poku, Research Analytics Manager, presents a poster developed in partnership with the Perinatal-Neonatal Quality Improvement Network of Massachusetts (PNQIN) at Academy Health's Annual Research Meeting.

Download the poster

Prioritizing safety in home care during COVID-19: Frontline worker perspectives

June 14, 2021

Ola Szczerepa, Research Analytics Manager, presents a research poster on home care during COVID-19 at Academy Health's Annual Research Meeting.

Download the poster

Speaking of Patient Safety: Turning the Tide on Medical Error

June 1, 2021

Barbara Fain, Executive Director, discusses the history of the Betsy Lehman Center and our current work at the American Medical Writers Association New England chapter meeting.

Watch the video

The Emotional and Organizational Cost of Harm

May 25, 2021

Julia Prentice, Director of Research and Analysis, presents at Working Together to Improve Diagnosis, a virtual conference focused on the impact of diagnostic error on patients, residents, care teams and organizations.

Watch the video

Betsy Lehman Center research in BMJ Quality & Safety top articles of 2020

March 14, 2021

Our research on the association of open communication and the emotional and behavioral impact of medical error on patients and families was selected as a top article of the year.

Read the research article

Hospitals should partner with home health care workers

February 8, 2021

An op-ed in CommonWealth Magazine cites two recents studies from the Betsy Lehman Center on the impact of COVID-19 on Massachusetts home care and home health workers.

Read the article