PSO Services Group Launches National Medical Safety Board
The PSO Services Group, LLC, a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) AHRQ listed National Patient Safety Organization (PSO), has launched a multi-disciplinary National Medical Safety Board (NMSB), designed along the lines of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). This private action is based on Recommendation number 7 of the IOM Report Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care released on November 8, 2011.
At the invitation of healthcare providers, the NMSB will compile appropriate Go-Teams to conduct on-site independent, non-punitive safety investigations. The investigative findings and non-regulatory recommendations will be submitted to providers under the protection and privilege of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005.
The NMSB board is comprised of nine carefully selected individuals, representing Healthcare Administration; Surgery; Nursing; Medical Devices; Electronic Health Records/HIT; Quality Management; Medication; and Risk Management. The former General Counsel of the NTSB and the AHRQ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will be consulted for compliance with the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act.
NMSB Board members include: Co-chairs Jim Hall, former chairman of the NTSB, and Don Wagner, former CEO at Memorial Hermann Hospital System; Jim Levett, MD, a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon who serves as advisor for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons on the Relative Value Update Committee of the AMA; Michael Stearns, MD, an informatics physician and former President and CEO of e-MDs, an electronic medical record company; Gwen Sherwood, Associate Dean and professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Nursing; Yadin David, a world renown investigator and authority on medical device failures; Susan Mellott, a nationally recognized authority on accreditation and quality measurement; and Averill Gordon, a pharmacist and director of the Walgreens Component Patient Safety Organization. A risk management expert will be added to the safety board in the near future.
Douglas Dotan, Executive Director of the PSO Services Group is the driving force behind this multi-disciplinary board. Board members were hand-selected based on their medical experience, passion for patient outcomes and personal knowledge. “Our board members will form an eclectic team dedicated to patient safety outcomes and progressive consulting,” states Mr. Dotan. He continues, “Acting as a board of governance, the panel will assemble and dispatch specialized Go-Teams made up of medical experts to respond to invitations from other PSOs, individual health care providers and institutions.”
Board member and leading Health Care consultant, Susan Mellott, PhD, RN, CPHQ, FNAHQ of Mellott & Associates adds, “I’m looking forward to serving on the board and working with health care professionals to assemble best practices and help organizations deploy methodology and knowledge that will assist them with improving outcomes and patient safety.”
About the PSO Services Group, LLC
The PSO Services Group is an independent National Patient Safety Organization listed by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (“Patient Safety Act”). The PSO Services Group was established in 2008 for the sole purpose of improving patient safety and quality in the delivery of patient care. They will provide onsite training to potential investigators at their campus in Houston. Policies, procedures and training manuals will be written and overseen for integrity by healthcare professionals, advisory board members and members of the PSO Services Group Advisory Council. For more information, visit www.psoservices.net.