|
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Grant for Patient Safety Research
Carl A. Sirio, MD, Principal Investigator
of the AHRQ funded cooperative agreement, “A Systems Approach
for Improving Region-Wide Patient Safety,” has partnered with
the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI) in groundbreaking
work to change the way evidence and research is integrated into
medical practice. PRHI is comprised of hospital and business leaders,
physicians, insurers and purchasers, and is committed to reaching
a goal of zero tolerance for nosocomial infections and medication
errors in its 42 participating Southwestern PA hospitals. This is
being accomplished through systematic analysis of literature and
evidence for best practices, open reporting of medication error
and nosocomial infection data, and information sharing among hospital
partners. Other partners on the project include the Centers for
Disease Control, RAND, Purdue, and US Pharmocopeia. Participating
institutions include all of the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center Health System hospitals where Dr. Sirio holds the position
of Associate Professor in the Departments of Critical Care Medicine,
Medicine, and Pharmacy and Therapeutics.
Dr. Sirio first began his work with PRHI
in 1997 as Co-Chair of the Clinical Advisory Committee and saw a
unique opportunity to merge academic medicine with business interests
in the real-time reporting of errors, reduction of costs associated
with errors, improvement of patient safety, and elimination of the
climate of fear that currently exists around medical errors. In
partnership with PRHI, the advisory committees and working groups,
Dr. Sirio sought funding from AHRQ in June of 2000 to finance the
efforts of the Initiative. Through this funding, Dr. Sirio has been
instrumental in creating and implementing region-wide guidelines
for fentanyl patch prescribing, the elimination of dangerous abbreviations,
as well as initiatives for central line associated bloodstream infections
and Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus infections (MRSA). Several
new medication safety and nosocomial infection initiatives will
be introduced during 2003.
It is Dr. Sirio’s hope that federal
funding for initiatives will continue to be made available to collaboratives
on a region-wide basis to improve information sharing. Dr. Sirio
continues to provide strong leadership in improvement of patient
outcomes and reduction of costs, raising the bar on medical care
across the Pittsburgh region.
|
|
