Diffusing Aviation Innovations in a Hospital in the Netherlands

Background: Many authors have advocated the diffusion of innovations from other high-risk industries into health care to improve safety. The aviation industry is comparable to health care because of its similarities in (a) the use of technology, (b) the requirement of highly specialized professional teams, and (c) the existence of risk and uncertainties. For almost 20 years, The Rotterdam Eye Hospital (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) has been engaged in diffusing several innovations adapted from aviation. Methods: A case-study methodology was used to assess the application of innovations in the hospital, with a focus on the context and the detailed mechanism for each innovation. Data on hospital performance outcomes were abstracted from the hospital information data management system, quality and safety reports, and the incident reporting system. Information on the innovations was obtained from a document search; observations; and semistructured, face-to-face interviews. Innovations: Aviation industry-based innovations diffused into patient care processes were as follows: patient planning and booking system, taxi service/valet parking, risk analysis (as applied to wrong-site surgery), time-out procedure (also for wrong-site surgery), Crew Resource Management training, and black box. Observations indicated that the innovations had a positive effect on quality and safety in the hospital: Waiting times were reduced, work processes became more standardized, the number of wrong-site surgeries decreased, and awareness of patient safety was heightened. Conclusion: A near-20-year experience with aviation-based innovation suggests that hospitals start with relatively simple innovations and use a systematic approach toward the goal of improving safety

Handoffs, safety culture, and practices: Evidence from the hospital survey on patient safety culture

10.1186/s12913-016-1502-7BMC Health Services Research16125

A Methodological Framework for the Definition of Patient Safety Measures in Robotic Surgery: The Experience of SAFROS Project

Patient safety is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care. The discipline of patient safety is the coordinated efforts to prevent harm, caused by the process of health care itself, from occurring to patients. During the last 10 years the relevance attributed to the prevention and management of errors raised considerably both within the American and European medical community. The Institute Of Medicine (IOM) and the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force (QuIC) demonstrated the willingness to face with the considerable number of errors that seem to affect the performance of the medical staff in general