Our Impact
ZERO Preventable Patient Harm Is the Utmost Priority.
Dr. Michael A.E. Ramsay, CEO
Patient Safety Movement Foundation
The Patient Safety Movement Foundation Goals
Actionable Evidence-Based Practices
Data Transparency
We cannot fix a problem until we know how big the problem is. We need to know the actual number of preventable medical errors occurring to motivate swift change and eliminate patient harm. This is why sharing of data about patient harm events and the outcomes of new safety measures has always been a foundational goal of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. Currently, we are only seeing part of the problem. In fact, many key statistics, like estimates of the total number of patients who die every year from medical errors, are based on extrapolations of harm event occurrence rates and not factual data.
Aligned Incentives
A necessary component of achieving our goal of ZERO patient harm and mortality is changing the way healthcare providers are financially incentivized. In our current system, despite the fact that an increased length of stay, an extra diagnostic test, or a subsequent procedure may be due to a preventable medical error, healthcare organizations can potentially be compensated for the additional services they have provided.
National Patient Safety Board
The proposed National Patient Safety Board would consist of a team of multidisciplinary individuals joining their efforts and expertise to form a nonpunitive, collaborative, and independent agency to investigate major sources of harm.
Patient Safety Movement Foundation Objectives
Creating Awareness
Preventable patient harm continues to be a major problem in healthcare organizations throughout the U.S. and around the world despite improved technologies and protocols designed to protect patient safety. Understaffing and tightening budgets risk exacerbating the toll of preventable medical errors unless we increase awareness through the number and volume of voices working together toward our goal of ZERO patient harm. Since its inception, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation has prioritized engaging and empowering patient safety advocates to not just highlight the urgency of the problem but to disseminate solutions. Their stories have motivated thousands to change the status quo in their healthcare organizations.
Strengthening Patient Safety Network
The Patient Safety Movement Foundation has been built on collaboration and partnership, and we have always embraced collegiality among safety groups. When safety organizations combine their efforts, resources, and expertise, they can create a legacy of lasting impact and reach the goal of ZERO harm in a timely fashion.
The Global Interprofessional Patient Safety Fellowship Program
The Patient Safety Movement Foundation offers a unique educational opportunity for healthcare professionals around the world to expand their knowledge in the theory and practice of patient safety. The program combines a year-long curriculum developed by patient safety experts in a variety of areas, taught via monthly live virtual classroom sessions, with a hands-on improvement project that explores and advances issues of patient safety in each fellow’s respective professional environment. Fellows are expected to complete monthly readings from a provided list and write short reflections. Our fellows are driven by a deep passion for patient safety, often sparked by first-hand encounters with patient harm events, and a desire to improve care outcomes in their home communities and workplace settings.
The 2024 Fellowship Program Application is Now Open.
Our Commitment Model
At the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, we have a global interdisciplinary team of experts that have joined our efforts to develop and review the aforementioned guidelines. Our team is ready to help with identifying major sources of harm in committed hospitals and analyzing collected before/after data to showcase the progress and improvements made as a result of implementing Actionable Evidence-Based Practices. Committed hospitals benefit from easy-to-follow step-by-step blueprints that have a proven track record of improving safety and outcomes of care in addition to higher patient satisfaction. When a strong culture of safety is in place, the staff exhibit higher job satisfaction, higher retention rates, and fewer burnouts.
