PRHI Board Investigates the DNA of Successful Milestones in Safety Innovation

In a dynamic and thought-provoking meeting, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) Board had the opportunity to learn from leading safety exemplars across the healthcare spectrum.

The June meeting was moderated by PRHI President and CEO Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD, who convened a panel of trailblazers in safety innovation, starting with Jeffrey Cooper, PhD, a founding force behind the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) and the Simulation education movement. Dr. Cooper reflected on the origins of APSF, the clarity of its mission and the vision of the multidisciplinary patient safety organization. He did not sugarcoat the skepticism it initially faced, and how persistence, collaboration, and the establishment of simulation centers and online simulation courses helped transform anesthesia into one of the safest specialties.

Paul Phrampus, MD, FACEP, director of the Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER) Institute at Pitt/UPMC, spoke in person about pushing boundaries in simulation-based education. He described the early doubts he encountered and how a strategic blend of evidence, persistence, and stakeholder engagement helped WISER become an accepted leader—internally, regionally and nationally--in advancing patient safety and quality. He noted the broad definition of patient safety makes the issue difficult to address and that there is a need for understanding of the specific risks and interventions required to improve safety.

From the commercial tech frontier, Michael Coen, Chief Technology Officer, TeleTracking, discussed how his team persuaded hospitals to adopt real-time capacity-management tools. He detailed the cultural and operational pushbacks they faced— and how positioning their technology as a patient flow and safety solution helped change perceptions and lead to successful commercialization of the platform which is used in over 200 healthcare systems and more than 1,000 individual hospitals.

Rounding out the panel, Michael Shabot, MD, founding partner of Relia Healthcare Advisors, shared how Memorial Hermann Health System, where he served as executive vice president and system chief clinical officer, made safety a central mission. Using a few key slides, he recounted the bold targets they set, the resistance they faced internally, and the measurable results that followed. This included reducing harm events by 90 percent through high reliability training, total transparency, and just culture adoption—all interventions which celebrate individuals who will call out missteps and unsafe conditions.

Throughout the session, one theme rang clear: overcoming resistance to improving safety requires not only innovation but relentless leaders who accept the preeminence of safety as a moral, financial, strategic and workforce imperative.

Dr. Feinstein welcomed the attendance of Laura Adams, RN, senior advisor at the National Academy of Medicine, which, like PRHI, is committed to learning from innovators who have successfully challenged resistance to prioritizing patient safety.