Today, Raj Ratwani, Vice President of Scientific Affairs at the MedStar Health Research Institute, Director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare, and an associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine,  joins Tracy Granzyk to explore the intersection of patient safety and data in our U.S. Healthcare System. They explore the vulnerabilities introduced by electronic health records (EHRs) and artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, as well as the opportunities to improve the delivery of care using both tools.  An expert in patient safety, digital health, and cognitive science, Raj engages in an informative and insightful conversation with Tracy highlighting patient safety, workforce readiness, and equitable AI applications in healthcare technology.

Raj begins by acknowledging President Biden's forward-thinking AI Executive Order, emphasizing its significance for healthcare and the need for proactive adaptation to AI integration. Central to the conversation is patient safety in the AI landscape, with a focus on establishing a comprehensive patient safety framework for AI. This framework centers on data collection, analysis, and dissemination to address AI-related patient safety concerns. The challenges of preparing the healthcare workforce, the importance of imparting essential AI knowledge, understanding potential challenges, and maintaining expertise in both traditional and AI-augmented healthcare are also discussed. Additionally, our duo touches on AI's broader impact across industries, emphasizing the importance of individuals acquiring AI-related skills to remain relevant in their careers. While addressing the fear of technological change, they highlight the opportunities that come from embracing AI and actively shaping its narrative. They also underscore the vital role of public-private partnerships in advancing AI while maintaining a balance between providing guidelines and fostering innovation in the dynamic AI landscape. Join Raj and Tracy today as, together, they guide us through the transformative era of AI in healthcare, prioritizing patient safety and excellence to ensure a safer and more equitable future.

Highlights:

• Patient safety and EHRs
• Interoperability challenges
• AI impact on healthcare
• Equity in healthcare tech
• Stakeholder collaboration
• Monitoring and regulations
• Patient-centered care
• AI readiness and innovation

Quotes:

"We have to make sure that these clinical algorithms have the right data sources that are underlying or leading to the development of them so that we have safe and equitable care for everybody."

"Patient safety is not always top of mind for people. To see that explicitly called out in the Executive Order, I think is fantastic."

"We have to look at this as an opportunity and latch onto this and figure out the right ways of integrating things that we're doing and take the best parts of it."

"We want to take all the things that humans are good at and preserve it and complement it with the computers and the artificial intelligence that can take care of all the things that we're not so good at."

"If we are going to take another decade to figure out AI from a safety perspective, we're in a lot of trouble."

Links:

LitHealth Homepage

MedStar Health

Raj Ratwani's LinkedIn Page

Joining Tracy for today’s episode is the truly remarkable Armando Nahum, a former patient advocate who has transitioned into an tremendously influential healthcare activist. Armando's inspirational story and educational presentations born out of his own family’s tragedy have left a profound mark on hospital administrations and frontline caregivers across the nation. Among his many achievements, he has become widely celebrated as the co-founder and president of Safe Care Campaign, an organization dedicated to infection prevention in hospital settings. He also holds key positions on various healthcare advisory boards and councils, including the CDC Council on Infection Prevention and the Georgia Hospital Association Advisory Board. In addition to being instrumental in establishing Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) aimed at enhancing quality and safety at hospitals across the country, Armando, in a highly significant achievement, was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in February 2020. Most recently, he is a founding member of Patients for Patient Safety US  in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), where he is leading influential healthcare policy change driven by patients and families. 

In today's episode, Armando shares the patient advocacy journey that he and his wife, Victoria, embarked upon back in 2006 following a series of infections that impacted their family across three different hospitals in three states, and which tragically resulted in the loss of their son, Josh. He also shares sage insights, emphasizing the pivotal role of patient and family engagement in healthcare. The conversation delves deep into Armando's personal experiences and explores broader themes of patient advocacy, PFACs, and the critical importance of transparency within healthcare. Vitally important topics covered in this enlightening discussion also include the necessity of cultivating a culture of safety and the unification of patient experience and safety. Armando's remarkable journey from personal tragedy to impactful advocacy serves as a powerful reminder of the need for change and improvement in healthcare. Through education, transparency, and the establishment of a culture of safety, he advocates for the construction of a healthcare system characterized by integrity and compassion. Armando's legacy is a resounding call to revolutionize healthcare for the betterment of all individuals involved.

Highlights:

• Armando's journey
• 
  
• The power of patient advocacy
• 
  
• Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs)
• 
  
• The need for full transparency in healthcare
• 
  
• Culture of safety
• 
  
• Patient experience and safety
• 
  
• Patients for Patient Safety US (PFPS US)

Quotes:

"You need to be aware that healthcare events can happen to anyone. It's not just a select few."

"In healthcare, we tend to spend more time on ‘after the fact’ than ‘before the fact’. We should spend more time before."

"The patient experience has to encompass quality and safety. The minute you separate them, that's when trouble starts."

"People need transparency in healthcare. There's no reason for institutions to hide behind their attorneys."

“If you have a PFAC, you're not using it correctly unless they go out in the community and start educating. To me, education is at the forefront.”

Links:

LitHealth Homepage

Patients for Patient Safety US

Tracy welcomes esteemed patient safety advocate and President/CEO of Project Patient Care, Marty Hatlie, to the podcast today for a conversation that delves deeply into the core of patient safety and the integral roles patients and families play in elevating healthcare outcomes. Together, they engage in a timely dialogue which underscores the urgent call for a healthcare landscape that treasures transparency, equity, and the voices of marginalized populations. Marty's personal journey from a lawyer advocating for doctors to a fervent patient safety advocate is also unveiled, highlighting the challenges and potentials within patient safety. 

Emphasizing the significance of systems thinking and accountability as catalysts for enduring transformation, Tracy and Marty reinforce the critical value of patient engagement and federal leadership while offering a revolutionary perspective for a new era of patient safety and equity. The episode also explores COVID-19's impact on patient safety and healthcare disparities, and introduces The Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety focusing on its mission to connect patient narratives with education to foster cultural change. As the episode concludes, our duo rallies listeners to partake in such patient advocacy and transparency endeavors as Patients for Patient Safety US. Join Tracy and Marty here today to gain crucial insights into this noble initiative to revolutionize healthcare for the betterment of all individuals and embrace a holistic vision of well-being, safety, and equality in the healthcare realm.

Highlights:

• Marty Hatlie's leadership and career evolution from medical-legal defense attorney to his staunch patient safety advocacy and work reforming patient safety
• Addressing decades of slow moving improvements in healthcare safety with a call to address the stagnation in patient safety advancement of late
• The urgent need for openness in healthcare
• Connecting patient safety with health disparities
• Healthcare transformation via federal leadership, accountability, and culture change
• Fostering change through systems thinking and safety science in healthcare education
• Recognizing the role of patients and families in driving innovation and accountability
• COVID-19 Insights

Quotes:

"We've lost the belief that the healthcare system can fix itself. It's just not going to. What we need is that paradigm shift towards systems thinking and transparency."

"The conflation of safety and equity is going to be a very exciting part of our next chapter, really looking at the data and looking at how some people just don't get the kinds of fairness in the healthcare system that we all deserve."

"This is a system that's supposed to work for me. And if it doesn't work for me, I'm entitled to speak up and say something about it."

"It shouldn't be our job ethically as patients and family members to be the agents for change. But again, it's been 20 years. We haven't seen it happen."

"We still fight with people just to get safety even on the agenda of the undergraduate curriculum."

"The challenges of driving transparency in healthcare are immense, particularly when the system resists change."

"COVID-19 exposed vulnerabilities within the healthcare system, particularly in nursing homes, leading to discussions about infection control and the importance of patient advocacy."

Links:

LitHealth Homepage

Project Patient Care

The Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety