Patient Safety Awareness Week

This week, Inspira Health, and hospitals across the country, are celebrating Patient Safety Awareness Week. Every year, we use this week to remind ourselves of our primary focus as health care providers: our patients’ health and well-being. As the world continues to combat COVID-19, the safety of patients, as well as health care workers, has never been more vital. 

At Inspira Health, we are steadfast in our mission of providing safe, exceptional health care to all of our patients. As such, we have made an ongoing commitment to patient safety, and more specifically to reducing preventable patient harm. 

In 2015, as a major step towards that goal, Inspira became one of the first health systems in New Jersey to launch a “high reliability” initiative to begin our transformation into a High Reliability Organization (HRO). As an HRO, we commit to reducing serious patient harm by establishing a teamwork-based safety culture.

To us, teamwork-based safety culture means we all do our part to keep both patients and colleagues safe. Whether it’s through open communication, transparency, or even having those tough conversations to hold each other accountable – our team is continuously improving our care and processes to create a safe environment for you.

With our teamwork-based safety culture and continuous efforts for patient safety, Inspira has earned recognitions from national and regional programs, including:

• Leapfrog Safety Rating: The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns a grade to all general hospitals across the country. Inspira Medical Centers Elmer and Vineland were recognized with an ‘A’ for the Fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.  As a new hospital, Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill will have enough data collected to receive a Hospital Safety Grade this spring.
• Blue Distinction Program: Offered by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and their 36 federations, the Blue Distinction Program integrates performance measures focusing on appropriateness of care and patient safety into a national framework for improving hospital-based care delivery.  This award is based on Inspira’s performance in quality care, treatment expertise and overall patient outcomes.
• This year, Inspira Health was recognized by The Women’s Choice Award for Best Hospitals™.  Based on our clinical performance and patient satisfaction, Inspira Medical Center Vineland was recognized for its mammography imaging. And, Inspira Medical Center Elmer received two awards—overall patient safety and orthopedic services. 

A core value of our commitment is to provide compassionate, safe care to all our patients, even when the situation at hand is not ideal. I would like to share a story with you today regarding a patient who arrived at the incorrect location for care.  A delay in having her test completed could have impacted her health.

A patient arrived for her diagnostic mammogram but, to her disappointment, it was scheduled at a different Inspira location than the one where she had arrived. She called the Access Center in tears, expressing the emotional harm it would cause if she had to reschedule her appointment.  She had already waited some time and had driven over 45 minutes that day. 

Melissa Manupello, Access Center, reached out to the patient’s Inspira Medical Group (IMG) practice, who arranged for the patient to be seen. The patient then received her test at The Women’s Imaging Center and had the standard conversation with the radiologist afterwards. 

Manupello shared, “I am so grateful that our teams worked together to provide this patient with safe and reliable care. This takes a team!” 

Teamwork is truly what makes stories like this possible.  As a result of everyone’s efforts, this patient received the care she needed, when she needed it. I hope you’ll take heart that, regardless of the situation, the team at Inspira will be here to work with you on your health care journey. 

Until we may have the chance to meet, stay safe, and be well.