Taking a Deeper Look at the Care Environment

[...]the review found opportunities to: * Enhance board-to-bedside communication around the hospital's aspirations for a safety culture * Improve staff morale by encouraging leaders to visit the front lines and take visible steps to acknowledge caregivers' heroic efforts Having conducted risk assessments for similarly sized and positioned hospitals in its captive insurance network and for other clients across the country, the evaluation team enabled Mass General and the community hospital to understand where the latter stood on its patient-safety journey and to consider strategies for success. [...]the assessment: * Affirmed the need to continue clarifying expectations and procedures around professional conduct to promote a culture of safety * Recommended limiting the number of patient-safety goals so front-line staff can more easily follow them * Advised that the hospitals amplify their leadership-tobedside communications around quality and safety by convening safety huddles, for example * Suggested various institutions expand their board education on patient safety * Revealed opportunities to harmonize quality and safety across Mass General's clinical network, helping the organization prioritize its patient-safety efforts Generally speaking, the review underscored the value of cascading information in an authentic, compassionate and ongoing way to ensure that everyone, from the front lines to senior...