Final Refections on a Great Week Transforming Our Mindset
I really would like to say thanks to all those who made my week learning about patient safety possible. Certainly David Mayer and Tim McDonald need to be thanked for all of their work in setting up this past week, but all the faculty and facilitators need to be commended. Thanks again, Shelly, Ric, Allen, Barbie, Jill, Paul, Bruce, Carol, Harry, Tracy, Bill, Jeff, and anyone else I may have left out!
I’ve been think a bit more about the role of technology in patient safety. I am certainly of the mindset that technology ideally serves us to make the world we live in a bit more manageable, to make our lives easier, and to provide solutions to common problems. This blog is a useful example of how information can more easily be transferred to a larger audience who share common interests. I was struck… Continue reading
Thinking about informed consent
I dont think that I’ve ever thought so much about informed consent as I did today. I’ve always had the self-perception that I communicate well with patients, especially around planned procedures in the emergency department where I work. After today’s discussion, I recognize that I am doing a fine job, but I can also do so much better.
Informed consent is a shared decision making opportunity between patient and physician. At its core, informed consent is a conversation with the goal of allowing the patient to ask questions and hopefully come away with a clear understanding of the procedure to be performed, as well and the risks and benefits of the procedure. Procedures, diagnostic tests, and medications can all be conversations that are pursued with patients under the vigilance of informed consent.
While the conversation is the essential element of informed consent, the informed consent paperwork can serve… Continue reading
Day #1 Transforming Mindsets Reflection – Todd Guth
We have just finished up the first day of the Resident Physician Transforming Mindsets Workshop in Marseille, CO. There has been much discussion on several issues in patient safety today. The issue that sticks with me most in the need for widespread cultural change within an institution if patient safety is to improve.
Cultural change within large institutions, such as hospitals, medical schools and medical specialities, can be a top-down or bottom-up phenomenon, but broad support across the entire institution must be in place for the cultural change to occur. My perception of the first day of our activities is that folks generally thought of being on the bottom can in fact be the agents of change. Grass roots efforts by residents, medical students, and other health care workers generally thought of being at the bottom of the power pyramid can make genuine differences in patient care through their individual… Continue reading