Patient Safety Grant Award Recipients for 2018 & 2019

Over the past two years, nearly two dozen patient safety research projects have been funded by CRICO—a recognized leader in evidence-based risk management, owned by and serving the Harvard medical community. CRICO has long championed the development and advancement of sustainable patient safety initiatives, and these grants are the continuation of a 15-year commitment by CRICO to broaden its support of these efforts. By identifying and funding key areas of risk, CRICO offers researchers affiliated with our member organizations a valuable funding source for advancing patient safety.

In advance of each year’s request for applications (RFAs), CRICO identifies specific areas of malpractice risk that research proposals should address. RFAs are submitted in the fall, with awards announced the following spring. All proposals undergo review by three subject matter experts and CRICO’s Grants Committee.

In 2018, 11 projects were confirmed for funding; followed by 12 in 2019.

2018

Risk areas were diagnosis, performance of medical procedures, nursing, surgery, and emerging risks.

Awarded Projects

• Use of a patient-directed triage questionnaire to reduce delayed or missed diagnosis in telehealth urgent care
  Philip J. Ciampa, MD, MPH, Atrius Health, Inc.
• Creating a hospital network resource for opioid prescribing across surgical specialties
  Gabriel Brat, MD, MPH, MSc, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc.
• REAL (real event analysis and learning) – A transferable live audio-visual program to optimize performance and safety in operating rooms and procedural environments
  Melissa S. Burke, MSME, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Impact of an Epic-integrated safety dashboard and interactive pre-discharge checklist on post-discharge adverse events
  Anuj K. Dalal, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Similar-cases finder for risk reduction – the SAFRR system
  Li Zhou, PhD, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Improving limited English proficient patient safety through patient portal accessibility
  Robert P. Marlin, MD, PhD, MPH, Cambridge Health Alliance
• Does “perfected informed consent” improve trust in the physician and reduce regret following orthopedic surgery?
  Michael J. Barry, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Assessing allergy safety during electronic health record transitions
  Kimberly G. Blumenthal, MD, MSc, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Artificial intelligence to enhance a cognitive aid for identifying patients at risk of missed diagnosis
  Mitchell J. Feldman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Artificial intelligence for risk prediction from intraoperative events
  Ozanan R. Meireles, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Reducing peri- and post-operative adverse events through in-situ debriefing and spaced practice of speaking up
  Jenny W. Rudolph, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital

2019

Risk areas were patient assessment, management and performance of medical treatment (procedures performed outside the operating room), and clinical mental workload/well-being.

Awarded Projects

• Management of DOACs by centralized AMS to reduce medication mismanagement and safety events
  Alan Brush, MD, Atrius Health, Inc.
• Machine-learning derived triage score for emergency department workload and error risk
  Joshua Joseph, MD, MS, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc.
• Using artificial intelligence advanced analytics to mitigate hazard during pediatric cardiac catheterization
  Lisa Bergersen, MD MPH; Kathy Jenkins MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Bedside procedure attempts: ‘if at first we don’t succeed…’
  Amir Kimia, MD, Boston Children’s Hospital
• From sepsis prognosis prediction to tailored clinical practice
  Patricia Dykes, RN, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Establishing an obstetrics critical care program to mitigate maternal risk
  Sarah Rae Easter, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Improved teamwork to decrease errors and mitigate their consequences
  Charles Pozner, MS, FSSH, & Madelyn Pearson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Brigham and Women's Hospital
• MD-SOS- Measuring diagnosis: safety or stress
  Gordon Schiff, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• An early-warning system to prevent adverse events in hospitalized patients after cardiac surgery
  Aaron Aguirre, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Development of a standardized strategy for postpartum hypertension: improving quality of postpartum care
  Ilona Goldfarb, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Can telemedicine examinations of the abdomen safely determine the need for abdominal imaging?
  Emily Hayden, MD, MHPE, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Understanding the best practices of labor and delivery nurses to improve patient safety
  Neel Shah, MD, MPP, Ariadne Lab, President and Fellows of Harvard College

More information on the CRICO grants program: Grant Program Overview.