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.

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.

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. 

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?

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.

This is Up Next for Patient Safety.

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.