Patient safety conference features national safety expert

Physicians, nurses and patient safety advocates from across New England and the mid-Atlantic will gather for a one-day conference May 7 dedicated to improving patient safety in health care settings.
The conference, "Creating a Culture of Safety: Best Practices in Implementation Science," will feature Doctor Peter Pronovost and a distinguished team of patient safety experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine, including Kathleen White and Christine Goeschel.
"We are thrilled that Doctor Pronovost is able to join us for this conference," said Thomas Dee, president and CEO of the conference's sponsor, Southwestern Vermont Health Care. "Doctor Pronovost's dedication to making scientific improvements in medicine has saved millions of lives. We also are gratified that both Kathleen White and Christine Goeschel will be joining him. Through their tireless efforts, writing, speaking and teaching, these three world-renowned professionals are making care safer for patients everywhere."
The conference will begin with a plenary session featuring Kathleen White, who will discuss the role of research in developing care models. Pronovost will provide the luncheon keynote address, discussing how physicians, nurses and other clinical staff can use evidence to create better, more-reliable care for patients. Christine Goeschel will close out the conference with a case study of how one hospital was able to implement a best practice.
Pronovost, who holds a Ph.D. in public health in addition to his medical degree, has spent his career improving the science of patient safety. He is the champion of using checklists to improve care. In Michigan, implementing his checklist virtually eliminated dangerous infections of central line catheters, saving an estimated 1,500 lives and $100 million each year. He has written over 400 articles and chapters related to patient safety and has been featured in a variety of national news reports. He is senior vice president for patient safety and quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he also holds a multiple academic appointments.
Kathleen White is an associate professor of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and is a clinical nurse specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was part of the team that developed a groundbreaking evidence-based model for nursing practice. She holds a Ph.D. in health policy science from the University of Maryland. She also serves as the senior advisor to the US Department of Health and Human Services Center for Health Workforce.
Christine Goeschel is an assistant professor and the director of strategic development and research initiatives at Johns Hopkins Medicine's Quality and Safety Research Group. In addition to multiple academic appointments, she has professional experience that ranges from pediatric and adult critical-care nurse, to chief nursing officer, chief operating officer, and chief compliance officer in large teaching hospitals. She also is a senior advisor to the World Health Organization Patient Safety Program.
"Hosting this conference is an excellent way to expose our staff and health care professionals across New England to the latest thinking on patient safety," said Carol Conroy, chief nursing officer and vice president of operations at Southwestern Vermont Health Care. "SVHC is committed to making care safer, better and lower-cost. Educational opportunities like this are just one part of that effort."
The conference is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Health Care, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Fletcher Allen Health Care. For more information or to register, contact Heather Stratton at (802) 447-5353, or visit svhealthcare.org/patient-safety.