The Hospital Association of Southern California is offering TeamSTEPPS workshops to enhance hospitals' culture of safety.
Here are five observations:
1. TeamSTEPPS stands for Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety.
2. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Department of Defense created the suite of tools.
3. The purpose of the program is to provide healthcare providers with communication techniques to prevent medical errors.
4. Key components of the program include increasing team awareness and solidifying team roles; resolving conflicts and improving information exchange; and eliminating obstacles to safety.
5. "Optimizing team performance across the healthcare delivery system will improve every hospital's patient safety culture and will prevent medical errors — guaranteed!" said Julia Slininger, vice president of quality and patient safety at the Hospital Association.
