New York hospitals use aviation safety techniques to prevent medical errors

Three top New York hospitals are seeking advice from aviation safety experts in an effort to reduce medical errors.

Officials at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center in Syracuse say they are launching patient safety programs based on the safety systems used by U.S. commercial airlines and military flight squadrons, as well as those used by nuclear-powered submarines.

hospital officials said they see the investment as a response to recent research showing that healthcare mistakes are still prevalent.

Researchers calculate that about one in every five patients is harmed by medical care, but admit the number could be much higher. Healthcare insiders believe that mistakes and errors are widely under-reported, and the true scope of the problem may not be known.

Patient safety experts are calling for programs that create a culture change and promote greater teamwork and communication effectiveness among caregivers.

The three hospitals have engaged LifeWings Partners of Memphis, Tenn. to work with their healthcare systems. LifeWings is a team of physicians, nurses, former NASA astronauts and commercial and military TOPGUN pilots who show hospitals how to implement the safety systems used by aviation organizations.

LifeWings reports it has worked with more than 100 healthcare organizations in the U.nited States, Asia and Europe.

The hospitals will begin working with LifeWings within the next two months.

St. Francis will begin its LifeWings project this week, hospital officials announced.

Paul Corish, director of crew research management at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said improving a facility's culture of safety is an evolutionary process. Vassar introduced the LifeWings project to its staff last year.

"When you want to bring change to a culture, it has to come from the top down," he said. "From the vice president to the surgical staff, it's going to take a commitment. This isn't just a one-day course or program. It's a change process that takes time. But the moment you start the process is the moment you change."

Capt. Stephen W. Harden, president of LifeWings and a former TOPGUN instructor, said 70 percent of the mistakes cited in two recent studies on patient safety are related to teamwork and communication.

"Sometimes, just doing the basics of learning how to effectively work together as an expert team – instead of a loosely associated group of experts – can have a dramatic effect on the safety of healthcare," he said.

"These New York hospitals are among the best in the country and will stay that way because of their investment in their patients' safety."