Session 1: Understanding Physician Office Safety

Faculty:  Doug Bonacum, William Strull, Frank Federico
Date: Wednesday July 22, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time

• Introduction to the program
• Overview of safety issues in the office setting
• Based on defects described by faculty, participants will:
  • Examine a process in their practice and determine if reliable
  • Identify 2-3 opportunities to improve within their organization
• Sources: Medical malpractice claims, significant events, office evaluations, literature review, and patient complaints

Action Period One (July 23 – August 11, 2009)

Participants will be asked to describe processes and determine how reliable they are within their own practices.

Instructions:

• Select a process you want to improve or believe is unreliable
• Examine 10 charts of patients receiving that care 
• Determine how many times the patient received the service/care you intended the patient to receive (e.g., how many times did the patient receive a preventive screen or a vaccine when indicated?)

Session 2: Methods of System Improvement

Faculty: Roger Resar and Frank Federico
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time

• Participants report on findings from process review
• Introduction to reliable design and other methods of system improvement
  • Why we fail
  • How to describe a reliable process

Action Period Two (August 13 – September 1, 2009)

Participants will be asked to complete the following and report results of tests, plus next steps:

• Develop high-level flow diagram
• Decide what to standardize
• Describe the standardized process

Session 3: How to Address Defects

Faculty: Roger Resar and Beth Averbeck
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time

• Review of work from Action Period 
• Address defects such as failure to follow up

Action Period Three (September 3 – September 21, 2009)

Participants will be asked to complete the following and report results of tests, plus next steps:

• Test a change described in Session 3

Session 4: Improving Medication Safety in the Office Setting  

Faculty: Frank Federico and Jacquelyn Hunt
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Eastern Time

• Participants will share findings from the Action Period
• Describe medication safety issues in the office setting
• Introduce self-assessment tools (e.g. MGMA tool)
• Introduce exercise associated with medication safety

Action Period Four (September 23 – October 12, 2009)

Participants will be asked to complete the following and report results of tests, plus next steps:

• Complete a self assessment of medication safety
• Improve one defect identified

Session 5: Patient Engagement

Faculty: Doug Bonacum and Bill Strull
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time

• Review findings from the Action Period
• Discuss diagnostic errors and the factors that contribute to those errors
• Discuss the importance of patient communication and the need for appropriate literacy level