Patient Safety Awareness Week is an annual recognition event intended to encourage everyone to learn more about health care safety. At SpecialtyCare, we want to take this dedicated time and platform to grow awareness about patient safety and recognizing the work already being done.
What is your position with SpecialtyCare and how long have you been with the company?
What propelled you to join the healthcare field and, specifically, perfusion?
The combination of cardiothoracic physiology and pump mechanics is what caught my attention as a young aspiring healthcare professional. Additionally, I was fortunate to have family within the field of cardiology/cardiothoracic surgery who helped direct my skill sets towards perfusion.
As an individual leader, how do you foster and promote a high-level of safe surgery?
Our Denver team promotes safe perfusion practice with dialed clinical skills, streamlined pump design, and good team dynamics. My mentor instilled in me the importance of clinical expertise, as well as an organized minimalistic pump design that allows the perfusionist to concentrate on case conduct. Our team has added good team dynamics to these tenets, promoting good communication to surgical team members, as well as within our own perfusion group. These three tenets (clinical skill, pump design, and team dynamics) are the foundation for our safe perfusion practice.
As a member of the AmSECT Quality Committee, are there any recent or current projects or milestones that you are excited about and/or will have an impact on making surgery safer to achieve a higher level of quality care?
As a member of the AmSECT Quality Committee, I am active in expanding participation in a national perfusion registry (PERForm) as well as promoting the spread of value-based reimbursement programs. These two items will give perfusionists more insight into their practice as well as incentive to improve performance and safety.
For more information on Patient Safety Awareness Week, click here.
