SCA Foundation Reception

SCA Foundation Reception
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Joyce A. Wahr, M.D.
Chair, SCA Foundation

Reception to Honor FOCUS

On May 1, the SCA Foundation invites you to our annual reception recognizing the work of Bruce Spiess, M.D. and the FOCUS Committee in developing the FOCUS Initiative.

As part of the SCA Annual Meeting, the reception will be held at Vic’s on the River, 26 East Bay Street, in Savannah, GA from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.


We are excited to have in attendance our special guest, Paul H. O’Neill, former CEO of Alcoa Corporation, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and SCA Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker. Mr. O’Neill transformed Alcoa Corporation in the 1990s by using Toyota Production System principles, making it the premier aluminum producer in the world. He then brought these same principles to the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative to transform training of healthcare providers and delivery of healthcare. Mr O’Neill’s work has been highlighted in a recent article, by Culig et al (Improving patient care in cardiac surgery using Toyota Production system based methodology. Ann Thorac Surg 2011;91:394-400.)


The mission of FOCUS is to improve the care of patients undergoing cardiovascular procedures. FOCUS employs a rigorous social science and engineering methodology in order to develop and measure the effectiveness of our interventions on complex systems in the operating room and across the entire episode of care. Many of the FOCUS Initiative methods echo those of TPS, in rigorously identifying and removing defects in our delivery of cardiac surgical care.


On Sunday, May 1, you will have a unique opportunity to recognize this project and the work of the SCA Foundation. The $125 ticket price for the reception includes a donation to the SCA Foundation. In order to involve a newer member of your organization, consider sponsoring one of your fellows to attend the reception. Sponsored tables are also available to accommodate groups of 6 or more.


If you cannot join us in Savannah, we invite you to contribute to all the programs of the SCA Foundation or to honor this project by sending a donation. For more information, contact the SCA Foundation at foundation@scahq.org or at 804-565-6324. You can also obtain information on our events online at the SCA Foundation website (www.scahqgive.org).

AHRQ Funds FOCUS Learning Collaborative

December 7, 2010 – Richmond, VA – The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded a three year research grant of $4 million to the FOCUS initiative to improve teamwork to prevent infections in cardiac operations. This research is a joint collaboration of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Foundation and the Quality and Safety Research Group (QSRG) at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Cardiac surgery is a high-risk procedure performed by a multidisciplinary team using complex tools and technologies. Efforts to improve patient safety and reduce human error for cardiac surgical patients have been ongoing for more than a decade, yet the literature provides little guidance regarding best practices for hazard identification and interventions to effectively reduce risk.

This three year study, led by Dr. Peter Pronovost, M.D., PhD, director of QSRG, uses the Comprehensive Unit Based Safety Program (CUSP) to improve teamwork and safety culture and technical interventions to prevent healthcare associated infections (surgical site infections, central line association bloodstream infections, and ventilator associated pneumonia).

“This study will examine whether a collaborative program to reduce infections and improve teamwork is more effective than the traditional passive method of sharing outcome data. This can positively impact cardiac surgery,” says Bruce Spiess, M.D., chair of the FOCUS initiative. Pronovost believes "For too long efforts to improve safety have been independent rather than interdependent, competitive rather than cooperative, and focused on efforts rather than results. In this project we will change this, working together, guided by science, informed by practice, we can reduce patient harm.”

Seventeen sites throughout the United States will participate in this study. The sites and primary investigators are:

Baystate Medical Center Springfield, MA

Anath Kashikar, M.D.

Bethesda North Hospital Cincinnati, OH

Elizabeth Burgess, M.D.

Duke University Durham, NC

Alina Nicora, M.D.

Lehigh Valley Hospital Allentown, PA

Nanette Schwann, M.D.

Liberty Hospital Liberty, MO

Mark Beltran, M.D.

Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC

James Abernathy, M.D.

New York University New York, NY

Marc Kanchuger, M.D.

San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center San Francisco, CA

Martin London, M.D.

Shands Hospital at the University of Florida Gainesville, FL

Gregory Janelle, M.D.

Stanford University Stanford, CA

Christina Mora Mangano, M.D.

St. John’s Mercy St. Louis, MO

Christopher Young, M.D.

St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center New York NY

Zak Hillel, M.D.

University of Maryland Medical Center Baltimore, MD

Alina Grigore, M.D.

University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Miami, FL

Michael Barron, MD

University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

Wei Lau, M.D.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital Pittsburgh, PA

Erin Sullivan, M.D.

University of Texas Southwestern Dallas, TX

Philip Greilich, M.D.

The FOCUS initiative is a multi-year, multi-center initiative, designed to examine the physical and cultural environment of the cardiac surgery operating rooms, and will seek to define processes by which the cardiovascular operative teams can reduce the occurrence of human error. Although every individual involved in cardiovascular operative patient care is dedicated to patient safety, the processes and communication patterns that exist frequently are inadequate to achieve the goal of absolute patient safety.

FOCUS takes pride in bringing together the key stakeholders in the operative cardiovascular surgery arena to not only study human error/patient safety but to take on the larger mission of changing patient care for the better. The FOCUS leadership has met with official representatives from four other academic societies: American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT), Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN), National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare (Medical HFE), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), and official collaboration of each society with the FOCUS project is currently being discussed.

The first step in the FOCUS initiative was an in-depth observation of the physical, interpersonal, and cultural environment in the cardiovascular operating rooms. The SCA Foundation funded the QSRG research team to conduct that baseline study. The results of that research helped inform the design of the new AHRQ funded grant.

The SCA Foundation, founded in October of 2007, is the philanthropic arm of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. The SCA Foundation advances cardiovascular patient safety and supports the continuous improvement of the cardiovascular anesthesiology profession.

The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists is an international organization of over 7,000 cardiac, thoracic, and vascular anesthesiologists that promotes excellence in clinical care, education, and research. Formed in 1977 to promote the specialty of cardiovascular anesthesia, it has grown rapidly with the expansion of cardiac, vascular and thoracic surgery. Over the past 30 years, the SCA has led the way in the training and certification of intra-operative echocardiographers, development of credentials for cardiovascular anesthesiology training (fellowship), and has collaborated with the wider medical community in setting guidelines for patient care.

Dr. Pronovost’s special interest is applying research methods that improve quality of health care and safety. In 2008, Dr. Pronovost was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program grant. He is facilitating World Health Organization efforts to implement patient safety programs in several countries and is leading AHRQ funded efforts to replicate the Michigan program in every state in the U.S, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

###

FOCUS Update

Bruce D. Spiess, MD
Chair, FOCUS Committee

The FOCUS team, together with our research collaborators, the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins University, continue to forge ahead. The data collected during the literature review, analysis of the National Learning Reporting System, and observations at the five FOCUS sites, are being prepared for publication. Three publications, with joint authorship between SCA and QSRG members, have been submitted, with 5 additional manuscripts in preparation. The next phase of FOCUS is well underway, with QSRG developing tools to enhance teamwork and safety in cardiac surgery. FOCUS sites that indicated a primary interest in the Learning Collaborative are participating in the development of these tools, and will be pilot testing them in the near future.

The FOCUS team continues to seek participation and collaboration with the key societies involved in the cardiac operative setting. On Sept 16, a Society Summit was held in Boston, and was attended by the Presidents of the Society of Thoracic Surgery (Dr. Doug Mathisen), the American Society of Extra-corporeal Technology (Susan Englert), and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (Dr. Sol Aronson, President Elect). Dr. Bruce Spiess presented the history of FOCUS, and Dr. Elizabeth Martinez presented the work done to date, as well as the planned work. Although the FOCUS Steering Committee includes thoracic surgeons, perfusionists and nurses, participation and collaboration at the society level will enable the innovations and teamwork improvements of FOCUS to be disseminated and adopted more broadly

The FOCUS team attended the Lucian Leape/ National Patient Safety Foundation Forum in Boston on the afternoon and evening of September 16, 2010. A number of speakers reported on progress and recommendations from work groups within the Lucian Leape Institute. It was clear from listening to these reports that FOCUS is now and will be providing a vital research/interventional force to the movement to make medical care safer.

As a result of attendance at the Lucian Leape Forum, FOCUS has secured Paul O’Neill as the keynote speaker for the SCA Annual Meeting, in Savannah, Georgia, on May 2, 2011. Mr. O’Neill will talk on: “Leadership in High Reliability Organizations: Methods to Reduce Human Error. “ This keynote address will dove tail to the FOCUS session, held from 3:30 pm - 5:15 pm on May 2, 2011, where Mr. O’Neill will again appear on the panel to answer questions and provide discussion regarding FOCUS data and future programs.

Paul O’Neill has had an important career in private industry as well as public service. Mr. O’Neill served as the 72nd Secretary of the Treasury under George W. Bush (first term). Prior to this service, he had been CEO of Alcoa Corporation and the Rand Corporation. His experience from these leadership positions will form the basis for his address to the SCA and his participation in FOCUS. We hope as many members as possible will attend his address and hearing him speak is itself a reason to come to Savannah for the SCA Annual Meeting.

FOCUS Presentation at the ASA Meeting

by Bruce Spiess, M.D.

The FOCUS Initiative is a part of the program of the ASA Annual Meeting. Join us on Sunday, October 17 at 10:00 am -12:00 noon pacific time at the San Diego Convention Center, room Upper 1A for the presentation, “Patient Safety in the Complex Environment of the Cardiac Operating Room. “

Panelists for the presentation include Joyce A. Wahr, MD, Jeffrey Cooper, MD, Elizabeth A. Martinez, MD, Alan F. Merry, MD and Bruce D. Spiess, MD.

FOCUS previewed in American Heart Association newsletter

The Vol 8., No. 1 spring 2010 issue of the American Heart Association newsletter, Connections, features an excerpt from the article Spiess, BD, Wahr, JA, Nussmeier, NA. Bring Your Life into FOCUS! Anesth Analg. 110:283-7, 2010.

Pronovost Interviewed by New York Times

Dr. Peter J. Pronovost, 45, is medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, which means he leads that institution's quest for safer ways to care for its patients. He also travels the country, advising hospitals on innovative safety measures. The Hudson Street Press has just released his book, "Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out," written with Eric Vohr. An edited version of a two-hour conversation follows.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/science/09conv.html?em

Anesthesia & Analgesia Spotlights the FOCUS Initiative

January 26, 2010

John Melleky, SCA Foundation Executive Director

Anesthesia & Analgesia Spotlights the FOCUS Initiative

An introduction and update on the FOCUS initiative appears in two special articles, “Bring Your Life Into FOCUS “and “The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' FOCUS Initiative: Locating Errors Through Networked Surveillance (LENS) Project Vision” in the February 2010 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, the official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) and the SCA.

"Preventing humans from making mistakes may be nearly impossible, but the SCA FOCUS initiative is predicated on the strong belief that making an error-free medical environment can be achieved," comments Dr. Steven L. Shafer of Columbia University, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia.

Read the full article in Anesthesia & Analgesia.