Nearly half of all adverse events in industrialized hospital settings are attributable to surgical procedures, with surgical site infections (SSIs) occurring in 5% of patients undergoing surgical procedures. SSIs specifically account for nearly 15% of all nosocomial infections (World Alliance, 2008; Reichman, 2009). The cases of disability and death that are directly attributable to the 300,000 annual SSIs are entirely preventable through standardization and consistency of protocols that already exist in many hospitals. However, even in the most sophisticated settings, these protocols are fragmented and are not consistently followed (World Alliance, 2008).

Our APSS outline actionable steps healthcare organizations should take to successfully implement and sustain behavior change for high reliability, shared understanding, thorough communication, and meaningful person-centered care across the organization.

Actionable steps include:

• Executive Summary Checklist
• Leadership checklist guide to determine whether current evidence-based guidelines are being followed in your organization
• Performance improvement plan to follow if improvements are necessary
• Clinical workflow for preoccupation with workflow for areas of improvement
• How to educate patients and family members about the significance of their role throughout the continuum
• Guidance on how to measure outcomes