White House panel at Healthcare Safety Forum to be moderated by ECRI president and CEO

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will convene key health organization leaders, patient and workforce advocates, healthcare system executives, and Biden-Harris Administration officials for a Healthcare Safety Forum on World Patient Safety Day, September 17, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am ET.

Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, president and CEO of ECRI, a global healthcare quality and safety nonprofit organization, will moderate a panel at the White House forum to highlight successful practices that improve patient and workforce safety outcomes.

The Healthcare Safety Forum is designed to catalyze public and private action to achieve a milestone 50% reduction in patient and workforce harm towards the goal of zero preventable harm; and elevate best practices and build on the momentum of recent efforts to enhance patient and workforce safety. The event will be available to view on Zoom by registering here.

Leaders from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, MedStar Health and Prisma Health will join the panel moderated by ECRI to discuss empowering the patient’s voice, addressing unexpected harm events, workforce safety and wellbeing, and making healthcare safer by design.

“The achievements of today’s panelists deserve to be celebrated and shared broadly with the healthcare community,” said Marcus Schabacker, president and CEO of ECRI. “They avoided the common trap many healthcare leaders fall into when faced with perennial safety issues: they refused to troubleshoot safety incidents in silos as isolated events. Instead, they led transformation in their organizations, rooted in systems-based thinking, human factors engineering principles, patient engagement, and workforce just culture. At ECRI, we advocate for all these elements which comprise a holistic approach to safety, quality and equity. I’m proud to lead the panelists in a vital discussion about how this approach to healthcare can be scaled and applied in other care settings and institutions.”

The Healthcare Safety Forum features speakers from the White House OSTP, Duke University, Department of Veterans Affairs, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, John A. Hartford Foundation, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), EndSepsis, Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Services Policy and Oversight.

“Patients deserve assurance that their safety is never compromised,” added Schabacker. “Every patient should feel confident in the system, knowing they will receive the highest quality care. Our healthcare workforce deserves support that enables them to reconnect to the passion that inspired them to join the profession in the first place: helping people by delivering compassionate care. It's time to refocus on what truly matters—putting people back at the center of healthcare."

Visit the ECRI Newsroom for information on other ways ECRI and its affiliate the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) are marking World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) – including holding briefings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, sharing new diagnostic safety research, publishing free diagnostic resources for healthcare providers, and initiating a new partnership with the Patients for Patient Safety US organization.