Malpractice Claims Drop 39% Under Perinatal Safety Initiative

Premier's PPSI experts gave some credit for the observed improvements to enhanced communication and teamwork through three tools:

• TeamSTEPPS, developed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Situation Background Assessment Recommendation (SBAR), developed by the U.S. Navy as a system to communicate relevant case facts in a respectful, focused and effective way and
• Simulation drills, which use actresses and mannequins to simulate various events that could go wrong during the birth process to either mother or baby or both.

The hospitals that agreed to employ the three bundles are: Methodist Medical Center of Illinois in Peoria, IL; Baptist Hospital East in Louisville, KY; Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA; Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, MN; University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, MN; Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM; Bethesda North Hospital, Cincinnati; Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati; Summa Akron City hospital in Akron; Indian Path Medical Center in Kingsport, TN; Texas Health Harris Methodist, Fort Worth, TX; Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas; St. Joseph Hospital, Bellingham, WA; and Aurora West Allis Medical Center in West Allis, WI.