Breaking Barriers, Building Trust: The Role of Peer Support in the Patient Safety Movement (87H)

A 2023 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that nearly 1 in 4 hospital admissions experienced adverse events, a quarter of which were preventable. This ignited a major shift within the industry to focus on preventable harm, leading to the development of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report on how to revitalize the patient safety movement, as well as the CMS's recently proposed Patient Safety Structural Measures (PSSM) aimed at enhancing patient safety standards.

Far too often when patients experience harm in healthcare, clinicians are left behind a metaphorical "wall of silence" that both negatively impacts clinician well-being and potentially allows similar events to occur in the future.

Dr. Tim McDonald and Dr. Peter Smulowitz, drawing from their extensive experiences as clinicians and industry leaders, will explore how establishing formal peer support programs and leveraging data-driven insights are paramount to standing up a just culture in hospitals and health systems. In doing so, healthcare leaders can effectively reduce emotional exhaustion, improve patient outcomes and ensure safer care delivery.

Their presentation, informed by the PCAST report and the proposed PSSM, will highlight the importance of the Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) process within peer support, exemplify ways in which technology can help to facilitate the flow of information and deliver meaningful insights to drive safer care, and map out how connected healthcare operations is the key for hospitals and health systems to optimize efficiency and realize benefits across patient safety.

Participants will leave the session equipped with a comprehensive and systematic approach to peer support, powered by connected healthcare operations and aligned to the proposed PSSM. This approach will help hospitals and health systems instill and maintain a culture of transparency where clinicians are empowered to have honest conversations with patients and can focus on what matters most: delivering the highest quality care possible.