Indiana Patient Safety Center

Welcome to the Indiana Patient Safety Center

The Indiana Patient Safety Center was formed in July 2006. The main function of the center is to provide education, training, and other tools to foster cultures of safety in the complex work environments of Indiana’s hospitals.

The center’s plan is to encourage and facilitate evidence-based practices to reduce delivery system failures that could cause harm to patients.

IPSC Activities Update May 2008

Activities Summary July-March 2008

Fact Sheet: Indiana Patient Safety Center

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Program Set for Aug. 21
The Montage, Indianapolis
This one day session will focus on hospital specific improvements to prevent pressure ulcers. The program will highlight success stories from Indiana Hospitals and toolkits from other successful state-wide programs. Contact Carla J. Brown at cjbrown@ihaconnect.org.

Plexus Institute Newsletter - Emerging: The MRSA Issue

Assessment Tool: Multidrug-Resistant Organisms

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Link to the Centers for Disease Control web site regarding Community Acquired MRSA:

2006 Indiana Medical Error Reporting System
The 2007 report is expected in August.

Statewide Culture Survey--Over 19,00 Surveyed
The IPSC provides Indiana hospitals the opportunity to conduct employee patient safety culture surveys using a Web-based application of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality culture survey tool. Participation in the statewide culture survey will allow hospitals to compare their results to the state aggregate. 19,000 Indiana hospital employees have participated.

High-Alert Medications Collaborative
Assessment Tool: Reducing Adverse Drug Events With Anticoagulants

Media contacts:
Marcie K. Couet, director of communications, IHA, mcouet@ihaconnect.org or 317/423-7727
Betsy Lee, director, Indiana Patient Safety Center, blee@ihaconnect.org or 317/423-7795

What is Just Culture?

The just culture paradigm addresses the weakness of a blame-free approach to errors and near-misses but also runs counter to an overly-punitive culture. One of the leading authorities on the topic, David Marx, describes it this way:

"On one side of the coin, it is about creating a reporting environment where staff can raise their hand when they have seen a risk or made a mistake. It is a culture that rewards reporting and puts a high value on open communication—where risks are openly discussed between managers and staff. It is a culture hungry for knowledge.

On the other side of the coin, it is about having a well-established system of accountability. A Just Culture must recognize that while we as humans are fallible, we do generally have control of our behavioral choices, whether we are an executive, a manager, or a staff member. Just Culture flourishes in an organization that understands the concept of shared accountability—that good system design and good behavioral choices of staff together produce good results. It has to be both."

To learn more, visit http://www.justculture.org/