Up Next for Patient Safety
Untangling the Paths to Safer Health Care
All Episodes
Where Is the System?
How can health care address the systemic challenges that have impeded progress on safety for decades? What lessons can be learned from other industries that have made safety a top priority? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and guests Nancy Leveson, professor, engineer, and systems safety expert, and Dr. Michael Shabot, physician, former healthcare executive, and expert in high-reliability healthcare safety and quality, for a thought-provoking discussion on how we can build a safer future for both patients and workers.
Read the show notes here: https://npsb.org/podcast/episode-23-where-is-the-system/
April 26, 2024
Meeting the Challenge
History has made clear that applying the same old remedies to the problem of medical error simply will not solve this longstanding crisis. How are the next generation of innovators looking to disrupt the status quo and bring new perspectives to improving safety in health care? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and young entrepreneur Reetam Ganguili, star of the documentary The Pitch: Patient Safety's Next Generation, for a glimpse into the exciting potential for technology to transform patient safety.
Read the show notes here: https://bit.ly/upnext22
March 13, 2024
Looking Toward the Future: Part 3
The business of health care faces a multitude of challenges to rein in costs while improving on and delivering safe, high-quality care. How can improved safety and reducing avoidable hospitalizations play in the economic landscape for health systems? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and health system CEO and futurist Josh Luke for a compelling conversation on the keys to changing the status quo and bolstering the industry for a stronger future.
February 6, 2024
Looking Toward the Future: Part 2
How will today’s technological advances empower patients in their health care and ease the strains on providers? What are the key actions that will make care safer, more accessible, and more affordable? Join Dr. Robert Pearl, a leading medical voice and premiere visionary, and host Karen Wolk Feinstein as they share reasons for optimism about the future of the healthcare industry.
Listen to the episode here: https://bit.ly/upnext20
January 4, 2024
Looking Toward the Future: Part 1
Today’s healthcare landscape is rife with challenges, many of which threaten the systems as we know them. But what impact will the challenges of today have on the industry going forward, and where can we find glimpses of hope? Join futurist Ian Morrison and host Karen Wolk Feinstein for an eye-opening expedition through the business of health care and the innovations that hold the promise to transform it—for both patients and providers.
December 12, 2023
Simulation Transformation
Healthcare simulation has had a powerful impact on medical education, giving students and providers the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with complex procedures within a safe, controlled environment. But what is the potential for simulation to also help address the persistent problem of medical error? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and guests Lance Baily of Healthysimulation.com and Dr. Paul Phrampus of the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research, for glimpse into the future of healthcare simulation and how it can transform safety for both patients and providers.
Listen to the episode here: https://bit.ly/UpNext18
September 28, 2023
Engineering Systems for Safety
What can we learn from the havoc that the pandemic wrought on our emergency departments? How can we redesign healthcare systems for greater safety and resiliency? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and guests Dr. Chris LeMaster and Tina Vitale-McDowell, both emergency department leaders, for a dive into how systems engineering approaches can address some of the biggest challenges in healthcare safety and what we can learn from the lived experiences of our frontline workers.
Listen to the episode here: https://bit.ly/UpNext17
August 28, 2023
Designing Safety with Urgency
How can we close the implementation gap to translate patient safety research into practice? What role can technology play in this process? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and two award-winning researchers, Dr. Hardeep Singh of Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and Dr. Jason Adelman of Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, along with filmmaker Mike Eisenberg of Tall Tale Productions, for a glimpse into the pioneering patient safety research happening today and the promise of tech-enabled solutions to equip clinicians in designing safer systems.
Check out the show notes here: https://npsb.org/podcast/episode-16-designing-safety-with-urgency/
June 9, 2023
Proposing New Partnerships
How has our fragmented approach to safety in health care hindered real progress on medical error? Can we reshape the healthcare landscape through directed collaboration? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and guests Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group; former NTSB chair Christopher Hart, founder of Hart Solutions; Dr. Najmedin Meshkati, professor of Civil/Environmental Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering, and International Relations at the University of Southern California; and healthcare executive and patient safety leader Julie Morath, member of the IHI Lucian Leape Institute and PCAST Patient Safety Work Group, for a deep dive into the potential to create meaningful partnerships among patient safety related organizations and finally make substantial progress on preventing harms before they occur.
Read the show notes here: npsb.org/podcast/episode-15-proposing-new-partnerships/
October 24, 2022
Twin Crises
How are the “twin crises” of medical error and the departure of experienced clinicians from the workforce threatening the safety of health care? What solutions for patient safety are possible in these uncertain and unstable times? In this special podcast episode revisiting an AcademyHealth webinar, join host Karen Wolk Feinstein as she moderates a conversation with four of our nation’s pioneer leaders in healthcare safety research and policy: Dr. Helen Burstin, chief executive officer at the Council of Medical Specialty Societies; Dr. Carolyn Clancy, assistant undersecretary for health for Discovery, Education & Affiliate Networks at the Department of Veterans Affairs; Nancy Foster, vice president of quality & safety policy development at the American Hospital Association; and Lisa Simpson, president and CEO of AcademyHealth.
September 16, 2022
The Great Resignation
How has the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic devastated our already overburdened healthcare workforce? Is the “Other Pandemic” of experienced clinical staff leaving the workforce in droves making health care less safe? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and physician leader Dr. Christine Sinsky, vice president of professional satisfaction at the American Medical Association, and nursing leader Dr. Terry Fulmer, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation, for a striking conversation about the extent of the crisis facing the healthcare workforce and what steps we can take to reverse this devastating trend.
July 25, 2022
Lessons from a Netflix Film
What happens when safety takes a backseat to profit? How can lessons from an airline tragedy guide efforts to make health care safer? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and aviation journalist Andy Pasztor, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, and transportation safety expert Chris Hart, founder of Hart Solutions LLC, pilot, attorney, and former chair of the NTSB, for a fascinating conversation on how a “culture of speed” at Boeing depicted in a recent Netflix documentary, “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing,” led to tragic consequences and how to protect safety in our revenue-driven approach to health care.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
May 25, 2022
Systemic Solutions
Where have efforts to reconstruct patient safety failed and what opportunities exist to remake the landscape of patient safety? How can advances in data technologies and systems thinking help us revolutionize over the next decade? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and esteemed guests Dr. Kathleen Sutcliffe, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Vivian Lee, president of health platforms at Verily Life Sciences, for a glimpse into the potential for a collaborative, tech-enabled transformation of healthcare safety.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
May 12, 2022
England & Norway Chart the Course
Both England and Norway have recently established national agencies solely focused on addressing safety problems in health care. Could a similar independent, nonpunitive federal agency be the missing piece to finally put the U.S. on a clear path to improved healthcare safety? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and guests Dr. Carl Macrae, professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology at Nottingham University Business School in England, and Dr. Siri Wiig, professor of Quality and Safety in Healthcare Systems at the University of Stavanger in Norway, for an inside look into the forces that inspired action on patient safety and the tactics that helped to build broad support for the endeavors.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
March 11, 2022
Doctors Evaluating Doctors
Can improving the way physicians provide feedback to their peer physicians make care safer? How can providers ensure that the right people, policies, and procedures are in place to effectively act on physician performance data? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and internist and professor Dr. Thomas Gallagher of the Departments of Medicine and Bioethics and Humanities and associate chair for Patient Care Quality, Safety, and Value at the University of Washington, and pediatrics professor Dr. Gerald Hickson, chair of Medical Education and Administration and founding director of the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as they discuss the concept of physician peer review and how to increase accuracy of and accountability for performance data to reduce medical error.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
February 16, 2022
Transforming Physician Culture
Why can it be so difficult to change behavior in physicians? How can “unremarkable AI” be seamlessly integrated to improve clinical care? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and physician Dr. Seth Wolk, adjunct professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, and technology design researcher John Zimmerman, Tang Family Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, as they explore the human context for medical error - and how we can get physicians on board with innovative technologies that could make the healthcare system safer.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
February 2, 2022
Looking Back to Move Forward
In a special episode to kick off the new year, three renowned leaders in patient safety offer critical insight on where we’ve come from and how to move forward. Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guest co-host Martin Hatlie of Project Patient Care and MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety in a compelling conversation with Dr. Carolyn Clancy of the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Ken Kizer of Atlas Research, and Dr. David Mayer of MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety as they reflect on the origins of the patient safety movement and look toward the future of patient safety in the U.S. They help us understand what the history of efforts to improve patient safety can tell us about what can be done today to eliminate patient harm.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
January 14, 2022
Anesthesiology's Answer
Why are some industries far ahead in applying safety technologies and making continuous progress? Why is health care behind? One medical specialty, however, defies this track. Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guests Dr. Aman Mahajan, professor and chair of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, bioinformatics, and pharmacology and professor of bioengineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and chair of UPMC Perioperative Services, and Dr. Jeffrey Cooper, professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and founder of the Center for Medical Simulation, as they explore how the specialty of anesthesiology has embraced technology and a culture of safety in ways that others have not.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
December 8, 2021
Pandemic Preparedness
What does the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about patient safety? How can we make sure that the systemic problems that led to unnecessary suffering are fixed once and for all? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guests Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive vice president at the American Public Health Association, and Chris Johnson, president and co-CEO at TeleTracking, as they explore how lessons learned through the pandemic response can be applied to healthcare safety.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
November 23, 2021
Safety with Equity
Are Black and Brown people at greater risk of medical errors in the U.S.? What are federal agencies doing to track and reform practices to make health care safer for those most at risk of preventable harms? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guests Dr. Cara James, president and CEO at Grantmakers In Health, and Dr. Kimá Joy Taylor, founder of Anka Consulting and a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, as they explore health equity issues within patient safety and the work that is needed to create a fair and just opportunity for every person in the U.S. to be as healthy as possible.
November 3, 2021
Factoring Humans + Machines
Why do we so often blame individuals for errors that are actually the result of flawed technology? How can we redesign health care to reduce the likelihood of human errors in the future? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guests Dr. Jonathan L. Gleason, executive vice president, chief clinical officer, and endowed James D and Mary Jo Danella chief quality officer at Jefferson Health, and Dr. Raj Ratwani, vice president of scientific affairs at the MedStar Health Research Institute, director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, and associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, as they explore how human factors engineering can be applied within health care to help humans and machines work better together.
October 14, 2021
Paying for Safety
Does the current U.S. health system financially reward safety? Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein and special guests Jessica Brooks, MPM, president & CEO of the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health and CEO & founder of US Health Desk, and Nancy Guinto, MHA, executive director of the Washington Health Alliance, as they explore the financial incentives that impact health care at every level in the United States. If safety is going to improve, what needs to change in the healthcare economy, and what progress and solutions are available to impact safety today?
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
September 23, 2021
The Answer is… Big Data
The frontiers of healthcare technology that can transform patient safety are already here. Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein as she speaks with two experts in using big data to improve health care: David Classen, MD, MS, professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and Michael McShea, MS, MBA, group chief scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in the Health and Human Systems group of the National Health Mission Area. Discover existing solutions in applications of autonomous safety technologies and predictive analytics that could anticipate harm and intervene to prevent harm before it occurs.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
September 13, 2021
Medical Error & the NTSB
Medical error kills 250,000 Americans every year, and COVID-19 has further exposed the need for better patient safety. Join special guest host Harry Litman, the host of the Talking Feds podcast, as he interviews Robert L. Sumwalt, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (2017-2021), and Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, as they explore this persistent problem in health care and a new proposed solution: a National Patient Safety Board (NPSB) modeled after what has made airlines one of the safest industries in the country.
View show notes and a transcript of this episode here.
September 1, 2021
About Up Next for Patient Safety
Medical error is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S. Let's untangle the components of safer healthcare.
Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein as she engages in conversations with experts in health care and technology to examine the best paths to guaranteeing patient safety. Hear about different solutions to existing problems that are possible right now. We have the capacity during the “once in a century” pandemic to gain the attention and support of a nation to address the current and ongoing errors and adverse events that cause unnecessary illness, death, and long-term disability.
Join host Karen Wolk Feinstein as she engages in conversations with experts in health care and technology to examine the best paths to guaranteeing patient safety. Hear about different solutions to existing problems that are possible right now. We have the capacity during the “once in a century” pandemic to gain the attention and support of a nation to address the current and ongoing errors and adverse events that cause unnecessary illness, death, and long-term disability.
Host
Karen Feinstein, President and CEO
Dr. Karen Wolk Feinstein is President and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and its three operating arms: the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, Health Careers Futures, and the Women’s Health Activist Movement Global. Widely regarded as a leader in healthcare safety and quality, Dr. Feinstein is the author of numerous regional and national publications, and she frequently presents at national and international conferences.
She is the host of a new highly regarded podcast, Up Next for Patient Safety, examining the best solutions to healthcare safety challenges. Dr. Feinstein is a founder of the Network for Regional Health Improvement (now a part of the Civitas Networks for Health), a past president of Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers of Western PA, founder and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative, and a member of many regional and national boards including the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Health Research Advisory Committee, and the UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Board of Directors.
She has been a faculty member of Boston College and Carnegie Mellon University and taught at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Feinstein earned her bachelor’s degree at Brown University, her master's at Boston College, and her doctorate at Brandeis University.
She is the host of a new highly regarded podcast, Up Next for Patient Safety, examining the best solutions to healthcare safety challenges. Dr. Feinstein is a founder of the Network for Regional Health Improvement (now a part of the Civitas Networks for Health), a past president of Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers of Western PA, founder and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative, and a member of many regional and national boards including the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Health Research Advisory Committee, and the UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Board of Directors.
She has been a faculty member of Boston College and Carnegie Mellon University and taught at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Feinstein earned her bachelor’s degree at Brown University, her master's at Boston College, and her doctorate at Brandeis University.
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