By Michael Wong (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Eight years ago, I started Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) with the goal of improving patient safety. Initially focused on opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD), PPAHS has added as key initiatives blood clots and alarm fatigue. As well, we and our collaborating clinicians have addressed many other patient safety issues, including sepsis, sharps injuries, pressure ulcers, pain management, COPD, nursing shortages, and maternal mortality. Our advocacy has been through a diverse range of mediums and venues, such as through conference presentations, articles, blogs, social media, podcasts and videos.
When I posted the first blog on the PPAHS website, I would not have predicted that PPAHS would be recognized as a top-100 patient safety authority or been invited to join coalitions like World Thrombosis Day and Global Sepsis Alliance. Our collaborations have embraced an ever increasing number of medical organizations and safety authorities, including the Respiratory Compromise Institute.
To further advance patient safety, PPAHS will soon be adding two key initiatives:
- Research into areas of key safety concerns, such as OIRD.
- Demonstrating how new methods, like virtual clinics, can improve patient outcomes and the quality of care.
To help us better address patient safety, if there are other areas of safety that you’d like us to address, research that you’d like to see done, or medical practices or healthcare technologies that you’d like to see better utilized, please leave a comment below or contact us.