Title: LPCH
 1LPCHs Most Excellent Adventure Transitioning to 
High Reliability
- Paul Sharek, MD, MPH 
 - Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford 
University  - Medical Director of Quality Management 
 - Chief Clinical Patient Safety Officer 
 - Vice President of Quality, Safety, and Outcomes 
Management  - Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital
 
  2Opening Remarks
- Thank you for the invitation! 
 - Honor to come to Childrens Hospital of 
Philadelphia!  - Worked with Annette Bollig (and others at CHOP) 
for years, as well as knowing Ron Karen since 
residency 
  3The Basics
- Learning objectives 
 - Understand the rationale for the patient safety 
imperative  - Review concepts of reliability science 
 - Translate high reliability constructs into 
practical improvement strategies  - Take home messages 
 - Harm occurs at high frequency in childrens 
hospitals  - Traditional quality improvement strategies will 
only move us to patient safety mediocrity  - Translating high reliability concepts into health 
care will be challenging, but will move us into 
ultrasafe care 
  4Why should we care about patient safety?
- Institute of Medicine report (1999) 
 - Data is flat out disturbing 
 - 44,000-120,000 deaths/yr in US hosp (est) 
 - 7,000 deaths/yr from medication errors in US 
(est)  - Compared to 45,000 deaths in car accidents 
 - Costly (LOS, malpractice) 
 - Lay press/public (credibility) 
 - Joint Commission 
 - Medical systems increasingly complex 
 - Problem aint going away 
 
  5Background(Bare with me just a little) 
 6Adverse Medical Event (AE)
-  Adverse Event (AE) - An injury, large or small, 
caused by the use (including non-use) of a drug, 
test, or medical treatment. This may be as 
harmless as a drug rash or as serious as death. 
(modified from IHI definition of an adverse drug 
event or ADE.)  
  7Harm vs. Error (IHI)
-  Error concept of preventability, 
process-focused  -  Adverse event harm, outcome focused 
 -  Relationship between errors and adverse events
 
Adverse Events 
Errors 
 8Pediatrics ADE Rates with Trigger Tool Takata, 
Mason, Taketomo, Logsdon, Sharek. Pediatrics 
April 2008 
960 Pediatric Inpatients 11.1 
ADEs per 100 admissions 22x more ADEs than 
incident reports
12 of 95 neonatal patients (lt 30 days old) had 
an Adverse Drug Event 
 974 Adverse Events per 100 admissions
56 of all Adverse Events Preventable
Adverse Events in the NICU setting are 
substantially higher than previously described. 
Many events resulted in permanent harm, and the 
majority were classified as preventable 
 10PICU Trigger Tool Trial Preliminary Results
-  Total Patient Count 734 
 -  Total Triggers 2,816 
 -  Total  AEs identified 1,488 
 -  Total Number of Patients with Adverse Events 
455 (62)  -  91 of patients with an AE Identified with a 
Trigger (416/455)  -  Number of patients with multiple (gt 1) Unique 
AEs 245 (33)  -  Average LOS 7.1 Days
 
-  Average AEs over all Patients 2.03/patient 
 -  Average AEs in patients with adverse events 
3.27 / patient  -  Overall  AEs per 100 pt. Days 28.6 
 -  Average AEs per Trigger (Positive Predictive 
Value of any given trigger) 0.444  -  Average Triggers per Patient 3.84 
 -  Mean Time for Chart Reviews 24.7 minutes (per 
reviewer)  
  11Average Rate Per Exposure of Catastrophes and 
Associated Deaths Per Activity (Reliability)Ama
lberti, et al. Ann Intern Med.2005142756-764 
 12Strategies to Address Adverse Events
- Practical-Target top offenders 
 - Rational and Logical 
 - I contend that this is like being on call, 
putting out fires  - Will get you to 10-2 or 10-3 level of reliability 
 - Results not impressive nationally
 
  13Are we better off 5 years after IOM???JAMA. 2005 
May 182932384-90 
Although these efforts are affecting safety at 
the margin, their overall impact is hard to see 
in national statistics 
 14Strategies to Address Adverse Events
- Practical-Target top offenders 
 - Rational and Logical 
 - I contend that this is like being on call, 
putting out fires  - Will get you to 10-2 or 10-3 level of reliability 
 - Stretch your mindTo really address pt safety, to 
make a huge impact on patient safety  - shift in philosophy 
 - paradigm shift 
 - Look to other complex high risk industries who 
have done this well 
  15What do you call an organization/industry that is 
complex and riskyBut very safe? 
- High Reliability Organization
 
  16Definition High Reliability (IHI)
- Failure free operation over time from the 
perspective of the patient.  - Reliability Index 
 - Unstable process Failure in greater than 20 of 
opportunities  - 10-1 1 or 2 failures out of 10 opportunities 
 - 10-2 1 failure or less out of 100 opportunities 
 - 10-3 1 failure or less out of 1,000 
opportunities  - 10-4 1 failure or less out of 10,000 
opportunities  - 10-5 1 failures or less out of 100,000 
opportunities  - 10-6 1 failures or less out of 1,000,000 
opportunities  
  17Average Rate Per Exposure of Catastrophes and 
Associated Deaths Per Activity (Reliability)Ama
lberti, et al. Ann Intern Med.2005142756-764 
 18Reliability Science
- Principles used to 
 - Examine complex systems and processes 
 - Calculate overall reliability 
 - Develop mechanisms to compensate for limits of 
human ability  - Adopting these principles-increase likelihood 
that the system will perform its intended 
functions reliably. In healthcare  - Help providers minimize defects in care 
 - Increase consistency in care 
 - Improve patient outcomes
 
  19Highly Reliable OrganizationsCharacteristics 
(Attributes)
- Karl E. Weick, PhD Organizational Psychologist 
University of Michigan  
  20Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 1. Preoccupation with failure 
 - 2. Reluctance to simplify interpretations 
 - 3. Sensitivity to operations 
 - 4. Commitment to resilience 
 - 5. Deference to expertise
 
Weick, et al. Research in Organizational 
Behavior. 19992181-123Weick, Managing the 
Unexpected Assuring High Performance in an Age 
of Complexity, Jossey Bass 2001 
 21Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 1. Preoccupation with failure 
 - Small failures are as important as large failures 
 - Avoid complacency 
 - Success breeds confidence in a single way of 
doing things and generates complacency  - Ex. My patient has never had a Potassium 
overdose, so why should I change?  - Success narrows perceptions 
 - Worry about normalization of unexpected events
 
  22Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 2. Reluctance to simplify interpretations 
 - Closer attention to context leads to more 
differentiation of worldviews and mindsets  - Look for the root cause, not the obvious cause 
 - Ex. Dumb resident wrote a 10-fold overdose 
 - Root Cause dumb resident was up all night, in 
ED with seizing kid, called for verbal order,  
  23Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 2. Reluctance to simplify interpretations 
 - Differentiation (diverse viewpoints) brings a 
varied picture of potential consequences ? better 
precautions and responses to early warning signs.  - Over dependency on insiders leads to 
simplification  - Ex. Inbreeding at LPCH/Stanford leads to The 
Packard Way 
  24Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 3. Sensitivity to operations 
 - Attentive to the front line where the real work 
gets done  - Authority moves toward expertise 
 - Role of RNs 
 - Role of Clinical MDs, PNPs 
 - Role of Parents 
 - Make continuous adjustments that prevent errors 
from accumulating and enlarging based upon 
reporting from operations, not the master plan 
  25Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 4. Commitment to resilience 
 - Develop capabilities to detect, contain, and 
bounce back from those inevitable errors that are 
part of an indeterminate world  - Ex. Trigger tools (and automation) 
 - A focus on intelligent reaction, improvisation 
 - Correct errors before they worsen and cause more 
serious harm  - Ex. stop the line
 
  26Attributes of High Reliability Organizations 
Weick
- 5. Deference to expertise 
 - Decisions are made on the front line, and 
authority migrates to the people with the most 
expertise, regardless of their rank  - Avoidance of the structure of deference to the 
powerful, coercive, or senior 
  27Mindfulness Weick
Together these five processes produce a 
collective state of mindfulness. To be mindful 
is to have an enhanced ability to discover and 
correct errors that could escalate into a crisis. 
 28Rene Amalberti, MD, PhDCognitive Science 
Department, Bretigny-sur-Orge, FranceAmelberti 
et al. Ann Intern Med 2005142756-764
the most important difference among 
industrieslies in their willingness to abandon 
historical and cultural precedent and beliefs 
that are linked to performance and autonomy, in a 
constant drive toward a culture of safety 
 29How do you translate all of this theoretic 
garbage?
  30Pauls Practical Solutions to Move Toward High 
Reliability in Healthcare
- Zero defect philosophy 
 - Defects in care not accepted as inevitable 
 - Stop the line 
 - Responsibility to stop dangerous processes and 
fix  - Systems thinking 
 - Systems and processes drive outcomes 
 - Standardization 
 - Checklists, boarding passes, order sets 
 - Data driven 
 - Data driven and evidenced based decision making 
 - Technology Tools for supporting ideal processes
 
- Leadership 
 - Patient first mantra 
 - Organizational clarity 
 - Mission statement 
 - Goals/incentives aligned 
 - Human factors integration 
 - Fatigue, staffing ratios, labels 
 - Culture 
 - patients first, collegiality, communication, 
reporting  - Simulation 
 - Prepare in advance for high risk situations
 
  31Transitioning Toward High Reliability the LPCH 
Experience
- Zero defect philosophy 
 - Defects in care not accepted as inevitable 
 - Stop the line 
 - Responsibility to stop dangerous processes and 
fix  - Systems thinking 
 - Systems and processes drive outcomes 
 - Standardization 
 - Checklists, boarding passes, order sets 
 - Data driven 
 - Data driven and evidenced based decision making 
 - Technology Tools for supporting ideal processes
 
- Leadership 
 - Patient first mantra 
 - Organizational clarity 
 - Mission statement 
 - Goals/incentives aligned 
 - Human factors integration 
 - Fatigue, staffing ratios, labels 
 - Culture 
 - patients first, collegiality, communication, 
reporting  - Simulation 
 - Prepare in advance for high risk situations
 
  32Example 1 Transitioning to High Reliability _at_ 
LPCHOperationalizing Simulation 
 33How do we do it at LPCH?What is CAPE (Center 
for Advanced Pediatric Education)?
- a physical space at LPCH equipped to simulate 
any pediatric or obstetric healthcare 
environment  - real working medical equipment 
 - realistic human patient simulators 
 - AV gear to record and play back all events 
occurring during scenarios 
  34CAPE program development since 1995
- NeoSim, 
 - SimTrans Neonatal 
 - OB Sim, 
 - FetalSim, 
 - Sim DR 
 - PediSim, 
 - Pediatric Office Emergencies 
 - Disclosing Unanticipated Consequences, 
 - Delivering Bad News, 
 - Perinatal Counseling 
 - NALS/PALS 
 
  35Patient Safety Oversight CommitteeLPCH
Patient Safety Oversight Committee P-SOC 
 36Taking the plunge
- Membership of P-SOC recommend operationalizing 
simulation at LPCH  - Partnership with Risk Management 
 - Self insured 
 - Invest in simulation 
 - Recommendation construct a 3-5 year strategic 
plan to transition from traditional didactic 
educational model to an active, simulation based 
model 
  37Moving Closer to High Reliability The Circle 
of Safety _at_ LPCH
drills _at_ LPCH
care of real patients
Senior leadership, Risk Quality/Patient safety 
dept
dedicated time _at_ CAPE 
 38Operationalization Step 1
1. Multi-disciplinary team training (NICU  OB) 
in Delivery Room
2. ECMO simulation (initiating/changing circuits)
3. Interpersonal communication in stressful 
situations 
 39Pauls Practical Solutions to Move Toward High 
Reliability in Healthcare
- Zero defect philosophy 
 - Defects in care not accepted as inevitable 
 - Stop the line 
 - Responsibility to stop dangerous processes and 
fix  - Systems thinking 
 - Systems and processes drive outcomes 
 - Standardization 
 - Checklists, boarding passes, order sets 
 - Data driven 
 - Data driven and evidenced based decision making 
 - Technology Tools for supporting ideal processes
 
- Leadership 
 - Patient first mantra 
 - Organizational clarity 
 - Mission statement 
 - Goals/incentives aligned 
 - Human factors integration 
 - Fatigue, staffing ratios, labels 
 - Culture 
 - patients first, collegiality, communication, 
reporting  - Simulation 
 - Prepare in advance for high risk situations
 
  40Example 2 Transitioning to High Reliability _at_ 
LPCHRapid Response Team Implementation 
 41Prelude Literature at the Time of Addressing 
Codes Outside of ICU
- 6 to 8 hour period of escalating instability that 
precedes nearly every cardiopulmonary arrest  - Many causative physiological processes prior to 
an arrest are treatable  - Post-cardiac arrest survival 
 - 24 hour survival 33-36 
 - Survival to discharge 24-27 
 - 1 year survival 15, 
 
Reis, et al. Pediatrics.2002109200-209 Nadkar
ni et al. JAMA.200629550-57 Young et al. 
Annals of Emerg Med. 199933195-205  
 42Chapter 4 of our talePanic in Palo Alto The 
Hero Gets Desperate 
 43New Literature Emerging
Medical Emergency Team coincident with a 
reduction of cardiac arrest and mortality 
 44Results Codes Outside of the ICUAbsolute Number 
 45Results Codes Outside of ICURate (per 1000 pt 
days)
P lt 0.01
Decrease of 71 
 46Mortality Rate-Housewide
34 kids lives saved in 19 mo!
18 reduction
p lt 0.01 
 47Our Contribution to the Literature 
 48Pauls Practical Solutions to Move Toward High 
Reliability in Healthcare
- Zero defect philosophy 
 - Defects in care not accepted as inevitable 
 - Stop the line 
 - Responsibility to stop dangerous processes and 
fix  - Systems thinking 
 - Systems and processes drive outcomes 
 - Standardization 
 - Checklists, boarding passes, order sets 
 - Data driven 
 - Data driven and evidenced based decision making 
 - Technology Tools for supporting ideal processes
 
- Leadership 
 - Patient first mantra 
 - Organizational clarity 
 - Mission statement 
 - Goals/incentives aligned 
 - Human factors integration 
 - Fatigue, staffing ratios, labels 
 - Culture 
 - patients first, collegiality, communication, 
reporting  - Simulation 
 - Prepare in advance for high risk situations
 
  49Example 3 Transitioning to High Reliability at 
LPCHTransparency 
 50Transparency of outcomes Internal Performance 
Information Flow 
Medical Board
Governing Board
Environment of Care Committee
Quality Service and
Safety Committee
OR Committee
Critical Care
Committee
Patient Safety
Committee
LPCH Infection
Quality
Control Committee
Improvement
Code Committee
Committee
Patient Safety Oversight Committee
Care Improvement
Committee
Faculty Practice Org
Pharmacy and
Quality Committee
Therapeutics Committee
Patient Progression Committee
Sanctioned Projects
Patient Care QI Committee 
 51Transparency of outcomes-Internal Indicator 
Sheets 
 52Transparency of outcomes-Internal Dashboard
Central Catheter Associated Infections in NICU ? 
- Rating 
 -  Compared to benchmark or historical mean 
 -  Range poor ? to excellent ? 
 - Change 
 -  Internal comparison 
 -  Review status of past 12 months compared to 
previous 12 mos  -  Range worse, unchanged, better 
 
  53Just why do we want to be transparent again???
- Provide our patients and community with good 
information to make informed decisions about a 
childs or expectant mother's health care  - Offer honest and accurate data about the quality 
of services we provide  - Be leaders and proactive in the data transparency 
movement  - Hold ourselves accountable for providing high 
quality and safe care  
  54Findings from Dartmouth-Hitchcock(10/2005)
Healthcare systems have the opportunity to 1) 
be proactive and accountable for the healthcare 
that they provide 2) help patients learn more 
about their conditions 3) use public reporting 
to foster quality improvement
Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. October 
2005, pages 573-584. 
 55NEJM February, 1 2007
As compared to the control group (n406), P4P 
hospitals (n207) showed greater improvement in 
all measures of quality After adjustments were 
made for differences in baseline performance and 
hospital characteristics, P4P was associated with 
sig improvements over the 2 year period
Hospitals engaged in both public reporting, and 
P4P achieved modestly greater improvements in 
quality than did hospitals engaged only in public 
reporting 
 56Characteristics of AMCs with High 
QualityUniversity Healthcare Consortium study
- Shared Sense of Purpose 
 - Patient Care is first among the 3 missions 
 - Quality, Service, and Safety central to 
competitive advantage  - Leadership Style 
 - CEO passionate about Quality, Service, and Safety 
 - Leadership (admin and medical) authentic hands on 
style  - Accountability System for Service, Quality, 
Safety  - Responsibility for S/Q/S at every level 
 - Central measures, local implementation efforts 
 - A Focus on Results 
 - Measure and benchmark ALWAYS 
 - Data transparency  (drives accountability) 
 - Action oriented, all problems fixable 
 - Collaboration 
 - MD, RN, and administration all work together 
 - Staff input, regardless of rank, always considered
 
Source Building a Culture of Quality and Safety 
Organizational Characteristics Associated with 
Superior Performance in Quality and Safety, 9/05  
 57(No Transcript) 
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 59Conclusions
- Adverse Events in hospitals occur frequently 
 - Targeted interventions for high frequency events 
valuable, but wont move organizations past 
mediocrity  - To make quantum leaps in quality and patient 
safety  - Use tenets of reliability science 
 - Integrate attributes of highly reliable 
organization  - Understand and overcome the barriers to high 
reliability in health care  - And remember