Comprehensive Patient Safety and Medical Liability Communication and Program Resolution Education Toolkit

"Contractor" HRET "Subcontractor" Northwestern University Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor and its subcontractors shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the specific requirements below. Under this task order the contractor shall develop, test, and implement a public domain Customizable Educational Toolkit as a Communication and Resolution Program Resource for national distribution. The purpose of this task order contract is to develop a program to support the adoption and implementation of a Communication and Resolution Program in hospital settings nationwide, building upon current initiatives underway that are demonstrating promising results. Such programs provide for the full disclosure of medical errors, apology, and fair and rapid compensation. These efforts are intended to reduce the likelihood of patients filing lawsuits and to enhance the capacity of health care providers to reduce the recurrence of such harm to future patients. Currently, there are a number of medical institutions and insurers that operate such programs. It is important that these tested approaches geared toward promoting patient safety improvement be formalized and developed into a public domain shareable resource for use by others across the country. Program elements shall include the following: 1. Institutional readiness and opportunity assessment - GAP Analysis Tool.21 2. Improving event reporting for risk identification (AHRQ has developed event reporting analysis training which could facilitate the development of this component of a Communication and Resolution. The existing program can be found at: http://patientsafetytraining.westat.com/.) 33 3. Event Analysis and risk identification 4. Communication with patient\disclosure training 5. Crisis Management Team 6. Care of the caregiver response 7. Apology and compensation fee waivers for inappropriate care 8. Data tracking and measurement