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August 5, 2021

Patient Safety Beat Patient safety news and progress in Massachusetts.

Colleagues remember patient safety leader, advocate and friend, Jim Conway Jim Conway is being remembered by friends and colleagues as a passionate and generous patient safety leader who was not afraid to engage in difficult conversations. “What we’re discovering is that in the gap between excellent and perfect [care] is suffering, harm, tragedy, and death,” he once said. “That’s the journey we’re on. And we have to stop and acknowledge that.” Conway helped guide the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through a tumultuous period of reflection, learning and change after the death of Betsy Lehman from an overdose of chemotherapy. He was a trailblazer in efforts to include patients and families as equal partners in care, support health care personnel and demand transparency about medical errors and harm. Colleagues recall how he inspired, helped and generously shared his time with them. Read the story

James B. Conway 1947-2021

Home-based acute care services gaining foothold in Massachusetts

Providing hospital-level acute care services to patients at home is far from mainstream, but the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to federal reimbursement practices are accelerating efforts to expand these offerings in Massachusetts. We talked with leaders of programs at Brigham Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, VA Boston Healthcare and UMass Memorial Medical Center about the advantages of providing hospital-level care at home, the implications for patient safety and the role they think this approach will play in medicine going forward. Read the story

Study finds wide variation in prescribing among primary care physicians A new study finds that variety in the size and use of physicians’ personal formularies — the core set of drugs they most often prescribe — is associated more with patient, physician and practice site characteristics than clinical necessity. The authors, including Gordon Schiff, M.D., an internal medicine physician and safety leader at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are studying conservative prescribing, an approach that recommends physicians simplify the core set of drugs they prescribe, with advantages for safety and cost. Dr. Schiff says, “Prescribers who stick to a more limited number of drugs can develop a better understanding of their dosing and side effects.” Read the story

Upcoming events Better Maternal Outcomes Initiative: Solutions from Community-Based Organizations. A free webinar from the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement will highlight community-based organizations and provide an understanding of doulas and how they impact care. August 11, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Register here National Maternal Health Innovation Symposium. A free, hybrid-virtual event for everyone interested in improving maternal health outcomes. August 30-31, 2 p.m. Register here “What Matters to Me” Research Study. Ariadne Labs and The Conversation Project seek adults with a serious illness who live with a family member or caregiver in Massachusetts to test the usability of a new workbook designed to help patients and caregivers prepare to talk about their goals, values and preferences for care with their health care teams. Learn more

Patient Safety Beat is published by the Betsy Lehman Center, a Massachusetts state agency that supports providers, patients and policymakers working together to advance the safety and quality of health care.

BetsyLehmanCenterMA.gov

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