Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors (MCPME)
From MAHealthIT
Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors
Overview:
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors is a public-private partnership whose mission is to improve patient safety and eliminate medical errors in Massachusetts. The Coalition's membership includes consumer organizations, state agencies, hospitals, professional associations for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and long-term care, as well as health plans, employers, policymakers, and researchers. The Coalition promotes a systems-oriented approach to improving patient safety, identifying the causes of medical errors, and developing and supporting implementation of strategies for prevention.
The Coalition has four levels of activity:
- Information Source: Educate & foster information sharing, including learning from innovation
- State-wide Agenda Setting: Agreeing on key patient safety priorities for improvement
- Forum for Aligning Efforts: Align member activities to achieve agreed upon safety goals
- Change Agent - Improvement Initiatives: Achieve measurable results on specific topics
Current projects:
- Preventing Hospital-Acquired Infections
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors is committed to working to eliminate hospital-acquired infections. The Coalition works with multi-disciplinary teams of front- line staff, as well as managers and hospital leaders to make rapid, meaningful, and long-lasting changes in care while partnering with patients and families to prevent infections.
-C. difficile Prevention Collaborative: This two year collaborative launched in June 2010 with support from the MA Department of Public Health has worked to prevent hospital acquired C. difficile by leveraging the work of multidisciplinary teams in twenty-eight organizations across the state.
-ICU Safe Care/Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program Initiative: Starting in October of 2009, in partnership with the MA Department of Public Health and MHA, a collaborative of ten hospitals was launched to reduce central line infections and improve teamwork, communication, and patient safety culture. An additional nine hospitals joined in November of 2010.
- Improving Transitions of Care/Reducing Readmissions
-State Action on Avoidable Readmissions (STAAR): Since 2009, the Coalition has worked with MHA, the MA Department of Public Health and Institute for Healthcare Improvement to support 22 cross-continuum teams in this initiative to improve care coordination and reduce avoidable readmissions. With an additional 28 teams joining in early 2011, 75% of acute care hospitals in the state are participating
- PROMISES Project (Proactive Reduction in Outpatient Malpractice: Improving Safety Efficiency and Satisfaction)
This three year project will support primary care practices to improve patient safety and reduce the risk of medical malpractice claims. This effort will focus on improving patient safety and reducing malpractice risks in four key areas in ambulatory care: Communication between clinicians and staff in the practice of patients, families, and among the practice team; Medication management; Test ordering and results management; Follow-up and referral management
- Other/Past Coalition Projects
-Reconciling Medications
-Communicating Critical Test Results
-Defining Accountability in Patient Safety
-Reducing Restraint & Seclusion Use
-Patient and Family Advisory Councils
-Improving Anticoagulation Management
-Serious Reportable Events: Accountability, Learning and Prevention
-Patient Safety Programs in all Healthcare Settings
Links
