Overview
VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry, Tampa
Patient Safety Area of Emphasis
The Department of Veteran’s Affairs funded the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa to establish a VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry. The Center was originally funded for three years in 1999 and has continued to receive funding to the present time. The focus of this Center is safe mobility. Two goals for this center are: (1) To promote personal freedom and safety for frail elderly and persons with disabilities, across the continuum of care and (2) To build a "culture of safety" to support clinicians in providing safe patient care and safe working environments.
Three other Centers, organized under the VA National Patient Safety Center, are in White Plains (VT), Cincinnati (OH), and Palo Alto (CA).
Key Center Objectives:
- To develop and test clinical innovations to decrease risk related to mobility.
- To design a model patient safety improvement program for VISN 8.
- To apply biomechanical analysis towards the design and development of safe patient care techniques and equipment.
- To develop and test clinical innovations for safe patient handling and movement.
- To transfer new technologies to the marketplace.
- Design and test effective strategies for innovation diffusion in patient safety.