November 30, 2021
Earlier this month, HCIF held our annual Partnership for Patient Care Leadership Summit. Though this is typically an in-person event held in the spring, this fall we opted for a different approach; a two-day virtual event. The Summit had a full agenda, featuring presentations and discussions on health equity, and our Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Award program.
In addition, we celebrated the 15-year anniversary of the Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) program. Since it launched, PPC has addressed more than 26 patient safety and quality topics, including Clostridium difficile prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, palliative care, and workplace violence. Currently, PPC focuses on longstanding programs such as Regional Safe Community, PURC, and the Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Awards, as well as HCIF’s newest project: Health Equity Data Strategy. Over the past 15 years, PPC has supported the region in providing the highest quality and safest care in the country, and the HCIF team is thankful we were able to celebrate this achievement at this year’s Summit with testimonials and memories from current and former HCIF leaders.
Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Award Program
On the first day of the Summit, the Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Award Winners were officially announced and the top three winners were featured via presentations and recognition videos. The 2020-2021 award program consisted of 24 submissions received from 17 regional PPC-contributing organizations. Over twenty-five clinical and patient safety leaders from the region’s hospitals scored these submissions to determine the top ten projects and top three award winners. Submissions were judged based on evaluation criteria including evidence of significant and sustained improvement in quality or patient safety; innovation; leadership and organizational commitment to improvement; use of a multidisciplinary approach; and the potential for replication in other healthcare organizations. Additionally, this year organizations were encouraged to submit their most innovative patient safety and quality improvement initiatives, including but not limited to exemplar COVID-19 response efforts, projects that included patient participation, and/or programs that addressed disparities in health outcomes.
The top three award-winning organizations each receive a grant from HCIF to help support their quality and safety initiatives. We appreciate the participation from organizations in this year’s award program and encourage your continued progress. Click here to see who this year’s award winners are and learn more about the initiatives. We congratulate all of our 2020-2021 winners!
Health Equity
The theme of this year’s PPC Summit was health equity. Day 1 featured three HCIF programs that are advancing and promoting health equity at regional healthcare organizations. These three programs included PPC’s newest Health Equity Data Strategy Collaborative, the regional Community Health Needs Assessment, and the longstanding Pennsylvania Health Literacy Coalition. On Day 2, Keynote speaker, Dr. Tejal Gandhi from Press Ganey presented on patient safety and equity and how the two are inextricably linked. During her presentation, she highlighted the importance of breaking the silos between the work being done in patient safety and equity as inequities cause harm and we cannot commit to a goal of zero harm for our patients without addressing the inequities that exist today.
“There is no such thing as high-quality safe care that is inequitable”
– Dr. Tejal Gandhi
Following Dr. Gandhi’s presentation, the summit featured three senior leaders from Philadelphia healthcare systems in a C-Suite panel discussion moderator by Sara Lomax-Reese. This panel consisted of Dixieanne James from Einstein Medical Center, Jack Lynch from Main Line Health, and Richard Webster from Thomas Jefferson University. The panelists shared their journeys and ways in which their respective institutions are measuring and tracking progress on equity and safety as well as models that are being developed to address inherent inequities that exist at all levels. The dynamic conversation ended with all three panelists sharing what inspires them in their equity journeys. Richard Webster shared, “I truly believe that we as a system are committed to this equity work and we will make a difference”.
As we look back on the past 15 years of PPC and reflect on this year’s Summit, we are proud of what has been achieved thus far, and thankful for the 2,000+ participants and 40+ hospital teams that have made these accomplishments possible. Looking forward, we are excited to continue focusing on equity as a priority of our organizations and our programs.
To view the presentations and recordings from the Partnership for Patient Care 2021 Leadership Summit, follow this link and click the “Leadership Summit” tab.