By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

It is with great pride and joy that I announce that this month – July 2021 – the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is turning 10!

Ten years ago today, when I pressed the publish button on the very first article to be hosted on a free WordPress blogging site, I frankly thought that the site would be up for about 6-months. At that time, I did not think that PPAHS would be celebrating 10 years of improving patient safety and care.

But, thanks to the tremendous support from corporate sponsors, clinicians, our board of advisors, and patients—not only in the United States but around the world—PPAHS has been a force for improving patient safety and care. 

Celebrating 10 years is significant in the life of nonprofits. According to the National Center on Charitable Statistics, “approximately 30% of nonprofits fail to exist after 10 years, and according to Forbes, over half of all nonprofits that are chartered are destined to fail or stall within a few years due to leadership issues and the lack of a strategic plan, among other things.”

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, Rocka Design created this beautiful testament to the many achievements PPAHS has been able to accomplish with your help and the support of countless others!

I invite you to review our 10th Year Anniversary Report. Our key accomplishments are not only a testament to what can be done, but more importantly what a tiny nonprofit can do through collaborations. Not one of these accomplishments could have been done without partnering with:

• Medical device companies and pharmaceuticals, and
• Patient advocates and medical societies, and
• Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and patients.

Together, we have improved patient safety and care, whether that be through:

• Checklists and recommendations have been developed through panels of clinical experts, like the PCA Safety Checklist, the OB VTE Safety Recommendations, or the Stroke VTE Safety Recommendations.
• Clinical education podcasts and webinars have been viewed more than 740 times on the PPAHS YouTube Channel.
• Helping patients manage their health during the COVID-19 pandemic through our Virtual Patient Care initiative.

But, we need to do more, so much more:

• Patients continue to die in-hospital from opioid-induced respiratory depression, like 18-year old Amanda Abbiehl and 11-year old Leah Coufal, both of whom would very likely still be alive today if they had been continuously electronically monitored.
• Patients with COVID-19, many of whom suffered from blood clots, were a stark reminder of the need for better anticoagulant awareness and treatment.
• Position statements that express our desire for the future and for better standards of patient care, such as:
  • Predictions about Healthcare Technology
  • The Use of Benzodiazepines
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Continuous Patient Monitoring
  • The Need for Patient Ambulation
  • Administering Procedural Sedation More Effectively
  • The Dangers of Delayed Diagnosis

I invite you to help us improve patient safety and care by:

• Writing an article either for the PPAHS blog or for the many publications or peer-reviewed journals with which we contribute.
• Speaking at conferences we are invited to, whether as a patient advocate or as a subject matter expert.
• Teaching an educational course for doctors, nurses, or respiratory therapists.
• Helping us develop higher standards of care through one of our expert panels.
• Making a donation.

With your help and support, we can continue to improve patient safety and care!

 

• Patient Safety