The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum (NQF) have announced the winners of the 2023 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards, including a Veterans Health Administration surgical initiative that reduced mortality among six months of patients at risk.
The Eisenberg Awards recognize major achievements by individuals and organizations that have improved patient safety and the quality of healthcare. Launched in 2002, the awards honor the late John M. Eisenberg, MD, MBA, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and founding member of the NQF board of directors.
Each year, awards are presented for national innovation, local innovation and individual achievement. The 2023 winners are:
• National Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality: The surgical pause – Veterans Health Administration
• Innovation at the local level in patient safety and quality: Creating a culture of quality for cardiovascular care in Michigan – BMC2
• Individual achievement: Eduardo Salas, Ph.D., Rice University
“Each year, the Eisenberg Awards showcase innovative efforts in healthcare quality and patient safety that have had a significant and demonstrable impact on improving patient outcomes and reducing preventable harm in healthcare,” said Dana Gelb Safran, Sc.D., president and CEO of NQF. , in a sentence. “The work of this year’s individual and institutional grantees embodies the legacy of Dr. Eisenberg, who was a visionary pioneer and change-maker committed to translating research into real-world delivery system improvements that ensure safe, reliable care. and effective for each patient in each setting. “The Joint Commission and NQF are proud to recognize these outstanding innovators as we continue to honor Dr. Eisenberg’s lasting contributions to our field.”
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is recognized for its Surgical Pause initiative, which reduced six-month mortality of patients considered “frail” from 25 percent to 8 percent at three VA medical centers. Under the initiative, providers implemented routine frailty screening with the Risk Analysis Index to identify patients at highest risk for postoperative complications, loss of independence, and mortality. For patients considered frail, a brief “pause” allows for additional assessment. For patients undergoing surgery, multidisciplinary care plans are implemented to reduce the risks associated with frailty before surgery, shifting the paradigm and effort to strengthen the frail patient and mitigate potential complications before they occur. A more detailed analysis of more than 50,000 patients found that one-year mortality decreased by 4.2 percent. As a result of this success, Surgical Pause has been replicated at more than 50 VA medical centers and the private sector.
BMC2 (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium) is a statewide quality improvement collaborative that develops and manages a portfolio of quality improvement interventions for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), surgical procedures vascular and transcatheter valve procedures in Michigan. As a result of the Creating a Quality Culture for Cardiovascular Care in Michigan initiative, participating BMC2 sites:
• Radiation use documentation improved from 73.1 percent in 2019 to 85.5 percent in 2021. BMC2 sites are exceeding national rates, which were 57.5 percent in 2019 and 74.3 percent in 2021.
• Achieved an overall 43 percent decrease in high-dose radiation exposure cases (from 2.8 percent in 2018 to 1.2 percent in 2021) for hundreds of cath lab patients and staff members.
• Reduction in the prescription of opioid pills. The data showed an improvement in the rate of patients prescribed fewer than 10 opioid pills, which increased from 62 percent in 2018 to 91 percent in 2021.
NQF said Eduardo Salas, Ph.D., of Rice University, is recognized for his work over 40 years designing, developing and evaluating evidence-based principles and tools to help healthcare organizations create a culture of teamwork and safety. Most notable is its development of TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies and Tools to Improve Patient Performance and Safety), a teamwork and coordination framework that has been adopted by 70 percent of U.S. hospitals. to help reduce medical errors.
Salas is a prolific academic and has published more than 420 articles in top-tier journals and two books, edited 36 books and 247 book chapters, and given hundreds of presentations. His work has been cited more than 132,000 times.
“Congratulations to the Veterans Health Administration, BMC2, and Eduardo Salas, for their tremendous achievements worthy of the 2023 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, Ph.D. , president and CEO of The Joint Commission Enterprise, in a statement. “We envision a future where all people always enjoy the safest, highest quality healthcare in all settings. The achievements of the 2023 Eisenberg honorees serve as examples of inspiring, yet replicable efforts that enable healthcare organizations to drive real improvements in patient safety and quality.”
In August 2023, the Joint Commission and NQF announced a strategic affiliation, with NQF joining the Joint Commission enterprise while maintaining its independence to convene and develop consensus-based measures, implementation guides and practices that benefit all parties interested.
