RESEARCH

Eric J. Thomas MD, MPH - The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Dr. Thomas' broad-based patient safety and quality research activities have focused on the epidemiology of errors and adverse events, teamwork, incident reporting, measuring and improving cultures of safety, claims file analysis, pediatric patient safety, geriatric patient safety, and organizational learning. His work has been featured in leading quality and safety journals and other peer reviewed publications, and his expert opinion and research findings have been relied upon by the Institute of Medicine, the World Health Organization, and the Institute for Healthcare Excellence, among others.


INNOVATION IN PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY-NATIONAL LEVEL

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School - Boston, MA

This organization is being recognized for the adaptation and application of the military and commercial aviation Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles to the field of obstetrics. After the CRM curriculum was modified for clinical application, 220 staff received training to incorporate the CRM principles and concepts into their daily work processes. The result was a dramatic reduction in major adverse obstetric events, which reduced malpractice liability exposure and improved overall patient safety and the quality of obstetric care. Specifically, a 25.4 percent reduction in the Adverse Outcomes Index (a measure developed for the project) was realized, and the severity of adverse events was reduced by 13.4 percent. The success of this work has been broadly recognized and has driven or influenced similar initiatives, including those of the Harvard Risk Management Foundation, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia, among others.

INNOVATION IN PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare - Evanston, IL

This organization is being recognized for its development and deployment of the first universal admission surveillance program for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The first year of this patient safety initiative resulted in a 62 percent reduction of MRSA and avoidance of more than 50 episodes of MRSA infection. The approach utilized was judged to be easily and cost effectively reproducible in any organization, and, as such, has the potential to have a significant impact on the nationally increasing mortality rates and rising costs associated with MRSA infections.

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