The Health Care Improvement Foundation’s (HCIF) Partner Profiles highlight the efforts of valued and innovative health leaders. Our partners’ work supports HCIF’s vision of healthier communities through equitable, accessible, and quality health care.
As HCIF celebrates Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 12 – March 18) this month, we’re excited to feature one of the longest-standing members of HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee, Dr. Charles Wagner of Redeemer Health. Learn more about how he applies patient safety principles to his everyday life, what changes in patient safety he’s witnessed throughout his career, and what he sees as the most important future priorities in patient safety. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Charles I. Wagner, MD, FACP currently serves as the Medical Adviser for Patient Safety and Quality at Redeemer Health in Meadowbrook, PA. He has practiced gastroenterology in academic and community based settings and has served as the Chief Medical Officer and Patient Safety Officer at Redeemer Health. He is a member of the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Health Care Improvement Foundation and had served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance.
As a long-standing member of HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee since its inception, you’ve contributed to a number of the Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) programs. During your time as an advisor, in what ways do you think that PPC has helped advance quality and patient safety across the region? What is something you’ve learned through working with our organization?
It’s been a remarkable adventure to serve as an advisor and working in the patient safety space has opened my eyes a lot. There are patient safety principles that we use all the time in our everyday lives that you don’t really think about. Ultimately, though, it comes down to patient safety being a way to help people and prevent problems. The real advantage of HCIF and PPC is that we all want to do the same thing and doing it together has lots of advantages. For example, it combines the work allowing for organizations to share their experiences and move things faster. It also allows for institutions to provide care to their patients in their community through the full spectrum of their experience. Lastly, it allows for common definitions and approaches to be used by everyone.
Early on in my career as Chief Medical Officer, there were numerous requirements from regulatory bodies that wanted hospitals to look at many metrics. We developed a patient scorecard and thus began a big effort to standardize amongst ourselves and try to convince regulatory bodies to use the same indicators so there was common definitions and terminology. That’s also the kind of thing HCIF became useful in. For example, when we first started looking at falls, everyone had different definitions of what constituted a fall and how to respond to it. We adopted a common terminology that was used across the country and could then compare rates better. When you don’t have that common definition, it becomes problematic, and we saw that with COVID-19.
“There are patient safety principles that we use all the time in our everyday lives that you don’t really think about. Ultimately, though, it comes down to patient safety being a way to help people and prevent problems.”
Charles Wagner, MD
HCIF is celebrating Patient Safety Awareness Week from March 12-18, 2023 this year. Given your expertise, work, and advocacy in patient safety, what are some of the most significant changes or evolutions of patient safety that you’ve witnessed during your tenure?
I think that probably the most important factor is we’re now actively talking about and prioritizing Patient Safety. For a long time, we didn’t talk about it, and individually we had been aware of some problems, but we weren’t collectively collaborating or educating about them. The more people that are aware of patient safety, the more attention they can pay to helping prevent future problems.
Another important thing that has occurred is we’ve gotten patients involved in patient safety. By including and empowering them in their care, we’re asking for their help to identify problems. We’re aware that patients are a last step in preventing problems, such as double checking they are the right person to receive a certain surgery, or that they are receiving the correct medication. Patient involvement is crucial to the whole process of patient safety. One of the things [Redeemer] was recognized for years ago was about infection prevention regarding handwashing. We put a sign in every patient’s room that read “Did you ask your caregiver to wash their hands?” This allowed the patient to be an active participant in their care and put staff on notice that they were going to be asked if they washed their hands. Redeemer had such a successful initiative that our work got picked up by the local news and made its way to national news. This initiative helped educate the population about something as simple as handwashing and everyone’s involvement in doing that.
Lastly, it’s important to emphasize that everybody has a role that contributes to and makes up the bigger picture of patient safety. Having everybody involved—everyone from patients, nurses, clinicians, dieticians, cleaning staff—helps reinforce behavior and creates a culture of safety.
Looking ahead, what is something that excites you about where the field of patient safety is headed?
A crucial step along the way in the future of patient safety is understanding our own behavior. It’s important to understand how people think and act in order to anticipate what steps we may need to take in response to actions. The behavioral stuff of how we learn and how we respond, it’s everywhere in our lives. I spent time in the U.S. Public Health Service that provided health service to the U.S. Coast Guard, and from that experience I took away learnings of how the military practiced and completed drills in preparation for problems they may have encountered. I witnessed how everyone on the team had their assigned job and I was able to draw many parallels to the very same concepts of education, practice, and accountability that we carry out in health care.
Along those same lines, another big insight I had occurred when I started at a new institution during my graduate training and found that they were not doing things the same way I did or was taught. I realized that I was inculcated with the behavior and institutional approach of the people that previously taught me and worked with. When I went to another institution that had a different orientation or culture—it wasn’t a matter of who was right or wrong, but rather an opportunity to interface with and learn from each other. That same principle applies to the cross-fertilization that HCIF’s work promotes. As each institution learns about a safety issue or solution, sharing it or exchanging that information in collaboration with someone else has real value to it.
As you reflect on your career of being a health care provider and patient safety expert, how did you become interested in patient safety? What do you think is one of the most compelling or important components of patient safety that the general public might not yet know?
Paired with the landmark report “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” from the Institute of Medicine in 1999, and witnessing things happen in the clinical setting, I realized how important patient safety was. From there and serving as Chief Medical Officer, I was involved in writing our organization’s first Patient Safety plan.
Two of the big tenents of patient safety is communication—we have to make sure we’re talking the same “language”—and education. Additionally, as I shared before, we have to keep in mind the human behaviors behind actions. Knowing how we react and what we do and why is really crucial. It’s important to understand what people are working with and why they’re reacting a certain way when you are educating and training them, especially as it applies to health care. Addressing the components of communication and education can ultimately have a profound impact on the outcomes of care and culture at an organization.
If you are interested in connecting with our partner, you can connect with Dr. Wagner via email at Cwagner@holyredeemer.com.
Something you may not know about Dr. Wagner…
His favorite book is Moby Dick, which he first read in high school and when the movie came out, he saw it fifty-six times while working as an usher in the movies! When reading Moby Dick, Dr. Wagner likes to reflect on what a case study of patient safety the story is. He draws parallels of the actors, actions, and lessons learned in the story to that in health care and appreciates looking at all those aspects of behavior, safety, and leadership in just one story.
Additionally, Dr. Wagner likes to garden as a hobby and form of exercise. With the help from his wife, he sees the everyday tasks of gardening following the same steps of a Plan, Do, Check, Act quality cycle. As he’s shared throughout this profile, he likes to seek and apply patient safety principles to his every day when he can!
The Health Care Improvement Foundation’s (HCIF) Partner Profiles highlight the efforts of valued and innovative health leaders. Our partners’ work supports HCIF’s vision of healthier communities through equitable, accessible, and quality health care.
In recognition of November being Men’s Health Awareness Month, HCIF is pleased to feature Dr. Andres Correa, MD, Urologic Oncologist and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Correa completed his Urologic Surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Originally from Cali, Colombia, Dr. Correa completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned his medical school degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
Dr. Correa has been a member of the PURC collaborative since starting in May of 2020 and since has been an active participant in the biopsy working group. Within the collaborative, Dr. Correa has explored the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on prostate cancer care across minority populations. As Chair of the biopsy working group, he has championed the adoption of the transperineal prostate biopsy approach, including the development of education resources for collaborative members, and closely tracking practice patterns and outcomes
What led you to urology? What interests you most about urology?
I chose to pursue urology because of the great mentors I had while in medical school in Maryland. I was captured by their unassuming demeanor and easy-going attitude while at the same time tackling complex health conditions. As I progressed through my urology training, I became interested in the management of urological cancers. I was intrigued by the wide spectrum of management strategies for each condition, ranging from observation in some patients to invasive procedures in others.
What is one thing you think people should know about providing prostate cancer care?
The main thing I would like people to know about the treatment of prostate cancer is how important it is to individualize the management strategy for each patient. Prostate cancer treatment has the potential to impact several domains of the patient’s life and without discussing important social factors, the consequences can be significant. An in-depth discussion about the patient’s employment status, dependents under his care, future employment, or financial plans are crucial to limit the impact of the treatment strategy on their livelihood.
“Prostate cancer treatment has the potential to impact several domains of the patient’s life and without discussing important social factors, the consequences can be significant.”
-DR. CORREA
If you could motivate people in your field to tackle one issue or address one challenge, what would it be?
The expansion of treatment options for patients with prostate cancer has also opened the window to increasing financial toxicity. As we move forward with adopting novel therapeutics, we also need to the cognizant of the downstream financial impact these therapies are having on our patients. It is well recognized that financial toxicity leads to an increase in mental health conditions and potentially inferior oncological outcomes as patients are tasked with choosing health over other life necessities.
What have you found most valuable about working with HCIF? What is something you’ve learned from our partnership?
I have been involved in the HCIF partnership since 2020, starting as a member of the prostate biopsy working group. It has been an amazing experience to share ideas within the collaborative and identify potential barriers to achieving our quality metrics. The changes made by the collaborative have been amazing, with our active surveillance rates above the national average and our rapid adoption of the transperineal prostate biopsy technique.
What’s a quote that inspires you in your work?
“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones that do more listening than talking” – Bernard M. Baruch. I believe that in the world of medicine, listening is a skill set that I work on daily to make sure I am providing the best care for patients. That means taking time to listen to their stories, their concerns, and their future plans. Only by active listening can you have a patient be a partner in their care.
What are some of your favorite hobbies or things you like to do for fun?
I like spending time with my two sons Mateo (8) and Nico (4). They are very active kids, so we spend a lot of time outdoors playing around. I also like to travel and get to experience new cultures.
The Health Care Improvement Foundation’s (HCIF) Partner Profiles highlight the efforts of valued and innovative health leaders. Our partners’ work supports HCIF’s vision of healthier communities through equitable, accessible, and quality health care.
As HCIF continues to tackle trauma-informed care and food insecurity as part of its COACH programming, we are pleased to feature Danielle Cullen MD, MPH, MSHP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine at CHOP. Danielle serves as Co-Chair of the COACH Food Insecurity Workgroup that consists of medical and health professionals who have come together to address social determinants of health and food access in Pennsylvania.
You serve on the COACH Food Insecurity Workgroup while also conducting research on childhood food insecurity and community-based interventions to improve health equity among children and their families. How did you become interested in pediatrics and working with socially disadvantaged children?
I’ve always been drawn to working with children and their families, whether it was as a swim instructor through high school and college, tutoring, or now as a physician and public health professional. When kids and their families enter the medical setting, they bring with them more than their acute presenting complaint; they bring their stories, their experiences, and the relationships that impact who they are and how they engage with care. I believe that being a pediatrician means more than treating patients medically; we also have the responsibility of providing a voice for children. Through my work, I see pediatric emergency medicine as a platform to combine clinical practice with research in a way that enables me to advocate effectively for the health of children and their families.
In addition to your work with COACH, you have also been involved with tackling childhood food insecurity at CHOP through programs like the Healthier Together initiative and the Complete Eats program. What is one thing you think people should know about childhood food insecurity?
That it is common and underrecognized. That there’s no specific way that a food insecure family should “look.” And that it’s generally the tip of the iceberg—if a family is experiencing food insecurity, there are likely many other areas in life that are stressful. Most importantly, I want people to know that even if a family is experiencing food insecurity, we must prioritize the family’s autonomy to decide what they want assistance with, when, and from whom. If we ask the questions—and if the family wants assistance— we must be ready to help. I suppose this is more than just one thing…
What are your greatest accomplishments within your field so far?
My greatest accomplishment is my team. I am fortunate to work with a phenomenal group of community partners, social workers, health professionals, academic researchers, and students. It is tremendously invigorating to work with such dedicated and caring humans who are striving to make life a little easier—and hopefully better—for the patients and families that we serve.
“There’s no specific way that a food insecure family should ‘look’.”
-Dr. Cullen
Tell us about the Complete Eats program.
The Complete Eats program is CHOP’s partnership with the USDA, PA Department of Education, and the Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to serve kids free balanced meals at the point of clinical care and connect families with food and other social resources that exist within their community. It is an extension of the summer food service program, a mirror program of the National School breakfast and lunch programs, operating during school closures. With the tremendous work on our clinical and community partners, this program has been in operation at CHOP for the past six years, providing meals at five different clinical settings. Most impressively, with the dedication of our team, we were able to operate nearly-continuously for 18 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, serving over 101,100 meals to kids, and demonstrating impact of the program in terms of improvement in family-level food security.
If you could motivate people in your field to tackle one issue or address one challenge, what would it be?
Oh, good question. I have a few different “fields” so I’m tempted to cheat on this one and give multiple answers. At the root, it really comes down to pushing further and further upstream, working together to dismantle systemic inequity, racism, and systems of poverty. In this we need to elevate and amplify the experiences and preferences of our patients/families, and the strength in our communities, to promote desired, effective change.
What have you found most valuable about working with the COACH collaborative?
I love the opportunity for clinical and community partners to come together, share lessons learned, and work towards improvement across our fields. As an implementation scientist, I also feel that this group has the potential to serve as a model to decrease the “know-do” gap, allowing for shared learning, dissemination of best practices, and scaling of effective innovations across institutions on a timeline that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
What’s a quote that inspires you in your work?
Sitting on my desk right now, and every day, is a framed quotable card that continues to resonate. It says, “This is your world. Shape it or someone else will.”
Something you may not know about Dr. Cullen is that her grandfather invented car signals! Not only is she very proud that her grandfather was such a tremendous innovator, but also appreciates that an emphasis on safety and clear communication has a strong lineage in her family.
The Health Care Improvement Foundation’s (HCIF) Partner Profiles highlight the efforts of valued and innovative health leaders. Our partners’ work supports HCIF’s vision of healthier communities through equitable, accessible, and quality health care.
As HCIF concludes year one of our Health Equity Data Strategy (HEDS) collaborative, we are pleased to feature Shonalie Roberts, MHA, ARM, LSSGB, System Director of Health Equity at Main Line Health. Shonalie serves on the HEDS Advisory Group that consists of health equity leaders and experts who have helped to establish the scope of the collaborative, support the launch of the program, and provide feedback on the HEDS Baseline Survey.
You serve on the Advisory Group for HCIF’s Health Equity Data Strategy (HEDS), a multi-year collaborative composed of Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) member organizations who are working towards the common goal of decreasing disparities in health outcomes in our communities across the southeast Pennsylvania region. This month, HEDS is concluding its first year, which has been focused on the collection, stratification, and utilization of race, ethnicity, and language (REaL) patient data. As an Advisor, you served in a key role of supporting the HEDS Collaborative launch and first year milestones, such as the HEDS Baseline Survey. What do you consider to be some of the greatest strengths of the HEDS Collaborative? What are you most looking forward to the HEDS Collaborative accomplishing in years to come?
Serving as an advisor for the HEDS collaborative has offered a unique opportunity to locally collaborate towards the development and enhancement of data collection and stratification initiatives that could help identify and reduce health disparities. Though functioning as individual institutions, collectively, the HEDS member organizations’ goal is simple – improving health outcomes for all by focusing efforts on where the greatest opportunities exist. One of the greatest strengths of this Collaborative is the forum it creates to foster collaboration through shared learning. I look forward to collective action to support hospitals in this region to taking tangible steps to improving health outcomes.
In addition to participating in HEDS, Main Line Health has demonstrated a commitment to health equity through its leadership and participation in a number of collaboratives, including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Pursuing Equity Initiative. What is one of the most impactful changes that Main Line Health has achieved with regards to health equity?
For the past 10+ years, Main Line Health has been committed to addressing disparities in care, advancing health equity, and fostering a care and work environment that is grounded in diversity, respect, and inclusion. In that regard, and via our participation in IHI Pursuing Equity, we’ve adopted IHI’s 5-pillar framework. Notably, we’ve included health equity in our strategic plan, added Diversity, Respect, Equity, and Inclusion (DREI) as one of our core values, established accountable infrastructure to lead, implement, evaluate and communicate our DREI work, and are building and strengthening diverse community partnerships.
We are taking a holistic approach to achieving equity in every aspect of our organization’s work – for our employees, patients, and the greater community we serve. We have made many changes that have had tremendous impact but there is plenty that we still have to do. One of the most impactful changes has been with the collection of REaL data and, more recently, the stratification of key measures by REaL data. We embarked on a campaign to bolster accurate REaL data collection about 7 years ago, which included staff training and support on WHY it is important to collect patient self-reported data. Efforts from that campaign, called “We Ask Because We Care” and adapted from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality, helped us to significantly improve REaL data capture and reduce the ratio of race and ethnicity data captured as “unknown” and “other” within our electronic health record (EHR). Now, with this data, we can look at our key quality of care metrics and determine whether and where there are disparities in outcomes that we should be focusing on.
What is one key thing you would like the public, or someone not in health care, to understand about health equity and the role it serves in our communities and the healthcare system as a whole?
Health equity is an important and complex topic. There is no exact pathway to achieve equity and by no means is there a one-size fits all strategy. It is a continuous pursuit and journey that takes time and sustained effort.
The work around health equity, which includes addressing the social determinants of health needs (those non-medical barriers like access to stable housing, healthy food, and transportation, that may impact health outcomes) involves community and preventive care – something hospitals and health systems were not traditionally built or set up to address. From a hospital and health system perspective, we have been in the treatment business, not in the preventive care business. So we are navigating new and difficult challenges in a new and difficult space. We have to innovate and change is hard. Learning to provide community, preventive, primary, secondary and follow up care for a patient across a continuum is not easy because often the existing processes work contrary to that and more often than not, patients unintentionally fall through the cracks in our systems – creating disparities, and inequities. Also, most of the work to achieve optimal health cannot occur within the hospital walls, so it requires community outreach, partnership, engagement, and trust. Hospitals must engage with the communities they serve to address these barriers.
Reflecting on your own professional background and accomplishments, how did you become interested in health equity? What is one of your greatest accomplishments within your field so far (in other words, what are you most proud of)?
I was attracted to health equity by the very same thing that attracted me to health care – helping others. Particularly those whose voice may not always be present or amplified to the level that influences decision making – those historically underserved and marginalized communities. These populations, despite individual successes within these groups and their own beautiful and rich community assets, experience barriers that negatively affect their health and in many instances these barriers are negatively impacting their opportunities to thrive in society. These barriers are steeped in individual and structural racism, bias (overt and implicit), underinvestment in their communities, and so on and so forth.
I think back to when I first moved to the United States and how difficult it was to access healthcare. My father – who had been an architect and project manager in the Caribbean where I’m from – could not get a job here in the US in spite of his credentials and years of experience. Without a job – health insurance was virtually unattainable for him and for us. In the US, employment creates access to insurance for most individuals. For my family, government-sponsored insurance was out of the question and in fact, for some, if not many Caribbean households, there’s stigma attached to public assistance and many avoid it. So, it wasn’t until my college years that I had access to care through my student status. Perhaps with education and trust-building, we can instill confidence in the resources (publicly-offered or otherwise) that already exist to help others who may need it. And of course by helping those who need the most help, you naturally help everyone. By addressing issues with how health care is delivered for the most vulnerable, you improve the way health care is delivered for all. And by improving access to care for more, you improve the health and wellbeing of the community. I see that as my role.
I think we still have a lot of work to do as a nation, within healthcare and even within my organization -MLH. Though I am quite proud of how far we’ve come. I’m most proud of the work we have done as a health system to educate, train, and support our staff to be more aware of DREI topics and to move from awareness into action. Through our mandatory DREI Learning Experience (now virtually offered), all employees will be re-trained in DREI principles. I’m also proud of our system’s growing partnerships with the community, including Together for West Philadelphia, a collaborative of more than 20 community, public, and private sector stakeholders fostering shared projects to maximize impact in health, education, food access and opportunity.
What have you found most valuable about working with HCIF? What is something you’ve learned through our partnership?
The collaboration within this region is most helpful. Often health care organizations see each other as competitors and this work is a good reason, the right reason, to come together and work together for the benefit of the patients we serve together. HCIF provides the necessary neutral forum to do this.
What is a quote that inspires you in your work?
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Something you may not know about Shonalie… As a Caribbean-born American, she is eager to travel to more Caribbean countries, citing the “rich history and diversity across and within these countries”, in addition to their warm weather and beautiful, clear beaches! Shonalie’s favorite book is The Other Wes Moore-One Name, Two Fates – “An easy read that illuminates the lives of two kids with the same name who traverse different paths. It affirms the power and influence of our physical, familial, social, and economic environment to shape our life path. For me in my role, it reminds me of the complexity of health equity because the very premise of this work is caring for individuals in the way they want to/need to be treated – not treating everyone the same or equally. The book, like my work, reiterates the complexity of our individual lives and circumstances and reinforces the importance of seeing people for who they are as individuals – with unique lived experiences – who must be cared for, in that way.”
The Health Care Improvement Foundation’s (HCIF) Partner Profiles highlight the efforts of valued and innovative health leaders. Our partners’ work supports HCIF’s vision of healthier communities through equitable, accessible, and quality health care.
In celebration of Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 13 – March 19) this month, we’re excited to feature the Chair and Vice Chair of HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee to learn more about what patient safety means to them and what they see as the most important priorities in patient safety today.
Jeremy Souder, MD, MBA, serves as the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Excellence and Patient Safety Officer at Pennsylvania Hospital of Penn Medicine and serves as Chair of HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee.
Eileen Jaskuta, MSHA, BSN, RN, serves as the System Vice President Quality and Patient Safety at Main Line Health and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Clinical Advisory Committee.
HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee is the voluntary expert panel of health care providers and partners from organizations across Southeastern Pennsylvania that identifies the region’s quality and patient safety priorities and provides clinical guidance to HCIF and its Board of Directors. Additionally, the Clinical Advisory Committee plays a key role in advising the Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) and its programs, such as the Health Equity Data Strategy Collaborative, Safe Table, Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Awards, and Leadership Summit.
Both of you serve in key roles on HCIF’s Clinical Advisory Committee that oversees the Partnership for Patient Care (PPC), which just celebrated its 15 year anniversary last year. What do you consider to be the greatest benefits and accomplishments of PPC during your tenure on the Committee?
Dr. Souder: The PPC convenes a broad regional community around the shared mission to make patient care more equitable, safe, and effective. In particular, I feel that the Safe Table Program and the Patient Safety and Quality Award Program create learning communities that foster the development of a shared understanding of challenges, opportunities, and solutions identified by leaders in our region’s healthcare organizations.
Eileen: I have served on the Advisory Committee several times throughout my career, but my most recent tenure has been 5 years. I have always found that the greatest benefit of PPC is the sharing of best practices in the region and the opportunity to participate in collaboratives to advance quality of care.
This month, we’re celebrating Patient Safety Awareness Week from March 13-19, 2022. Given the many changes and challenges that have been encountered by healthcare systems over the past two years, what do you see as the most important priorities in patient safety today?
Dr. Souder: I see the ongoing workforce challenges, the care for patients simultaneously coping with behavioral health and other medical conditions, the course of the pandemic, and striving for equity in our care outcomes to be the key priorities.
Eileen: The most important priorities in patient safety today really focus on two things in my mind – getting back to the basics and including equity in the work of patient safety.
What is one key thing you’d like the public, or someone not in healthcare, to understand about patient safety and the role it serves in our communities and the healthcare system as a whole?
Dr. Souder: That it depends on people caring for people—trust, mutual respect, concern, and compassion—in 360 degrees, as much as it depends on process improvement, data, and technical improvements.
Eileen: The role that patient safety provides is to be preoccupied with failure to ensure safety for the patients we serve, and to develop interventions to prevent safety events from occurring.
“The most important priorities in patient safety today really focus on two things in my mind – getting back to the basics and including equity in the work of patient safety.”
Eileen Jaskuta
How did you become interested in patient safety? What are your greatest accomplishments within your field so far (in other words, what are you most proud of)?
Dr. Souder: In my junior year of internal medicine residency, I began to feel disenchanted with my chosen profession. I saw how hard everyone was working, smart people were, how closely they paid attention, and how much they cared…and yet people got hurt, or didn’t get what I wanted us to be able to give them.
Then I learned about the field of patient safety, and that there was another way to think about caring for people than the one I’d learned in my textbooks, and it gave me hope. I realized that understanding physiology, anatomy, and pathophysiology and pharmacology were necessary, but not sufficient, to achieve the outcomes we all pursue.
I’m immensely proud that we, as a field, are grappling with challenges of high reliability, continuing with impatient determination to get better at what we do together for patients. I’m also inspired to see that now, when I bring up concepts like systems error, or the “Swiss Cheese Model” on rounds, students always nod their heads in recognition—they understand these core concepts before they get to their clinical training, and I see them engaging more regularly in ways I don’t remember seeing a decade ago. This gives me great hope!
Eileen: I was always interested in providing great care and patient safety was naturally a part of providing great care. I also had family members impacted by patient safety events and knew that we in healthcare could and should do better by our patients. I think much has been accomplished over the years in patient safety. Transparency and disclosure were critical to those accomplishments because we could learn from one another to make lasting improvements.
I learned about the field of patient safety, and that there was another way to think about caring for people than the one I’d learned in my textbooks, and it gave me hope.
Dr. Jeremy Souder
You have supported HCIF’s work through numerous PPC programs (including but not limited to the Health Equity Data Strategy Collaborative, Delaware Valley Patient Safety and Quality Award Program, and Safe Community) over the years. What do you think makes HCIF unique? What is something you’ve learned through our partnership?
Dr. Souder: What makes HCIF unique is its ability to convene different regional stakeholders around the shared aim of delivering excellent care to everyone in need.
What is a quote that inspires you in your work?
Dr. Souder: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results that it gets.”
Something that you may not know about Dr. Souder is that his favorite hobbies consist of water sports—whether that’s winter or summer water sports, he enjoys both! Eileen shared that things she likes to do for fun include hiking, learning how to golf, and watching college basketball!
