p4ps Produces Facilitator’s Guide to Consumer Patient Safety Video

CHICAGO, November 9, 2005 - Partnership for Patient Safety (p4ps) announced today the publication of A facilitator’s guide for healthcare providers to using the consumer education film ‘Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital’. The facilitator’s guide is designed for use in education sessions with healthcare students and workers, a secondary audience for the film. It can be downloaded at no charge at www.p4ps.org.

The film itself, Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital, was produced by Chicago-based filmmaker, Four Leaf Enterprises, Inc. after a principal of that organization contracted a serious staph infection in a physician’s office. His experience prompted Four Leaf Enterprises to locate other patients who had experienced medical error and capture their perspectives and error prevention advice.

“When we first saw this provocative film, we realized that while the filmmakers developed it as a patient education tool, it had very important content for healthcare students and professionals,” said Martin J. Hatlie, President of p4ps. “Healthcare organizations often are too hesitant to talk to patients and their lay caregivers straightforwardly about the risks of medical error. Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital gives providers a window into what patients are learning on their own, what they believe about medical error and what they are advising each other.”

The facilitator’s guide is intended to prompt greater discussion and reflection among provider audiences on the importance of dialoguing with patients and families about the inherent risks of healthcare treatment. An underlying assumption is that providing opportunities for patients and their lay caregivers to participate in managing risk as part of the healthcare team will benefit everyone involved.

“We know that it is often uncomfortable to talk about medical error with patients and families who have experienced it, because they can be emotional interchanges,” said Hatlie, “and the film contains some observations that may make healthcare providers uneasy,” he added. “But by avoiding this conversation, providers lose the opportunity to learn from patient experiences. Patients and their lay caregivers develop their own expertise, and it is important to factor that into our work for both quality improvement reasons and the assurance of continuing consumer trust.”

The facilitator’s guide also includes references to new materials produced by the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Healthcare, which has recently produced guidelines and a handbook for respectfully handling and learning from patient complaints. These and other tools referenced in the guide can be useful to provider organizations committed to patient engagement in their quest to advance patient safety.

More information on Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital is available at www.patientsafetyvideo.com, including ordering information. p4ps has no financial interest in the film and played no role in its development. Four Leaf Enterprises is donating a portion of proceeds from film sales from the website to Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, a nonprofit organization that p4ps also supports.

About Partnership for Patient Safety

Partnership for Patient Safety (p4ps) is a patient-centered initiative to advance the reliability of healthcare systems worldwide. The mission of p4ps is to initiate focused partnerships and joint ventures with organizations and individuals that share its core values and objectives of achieving a healthcare system that is authentically patient-centered and systems-based.

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Contact:

Martin J. Hatlie, JD, President
Partnership for Patient Safety
(312) 274-9695
mhatlie@p4ps.org