By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Can a Small Organization be Internationally Ranked for Patient Safety?
When one thinks about what organizations could be considered a top-100 patient safety organization, these organizations come to mind:
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: #1
- The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT: #6
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement: top-100
- Institute for Safe Medication Practices: top-250
Now, admittedly, some organizations that you might think of being ranked internationally don’t have a patient safety ranking because they have other rankings:
- The UK’s National Health Service: ranked top-250 in healthcare.
- The US’s FDA: drug development #2
Agilience Authority Index Measures Organizations Authority
So, what is the Agilience Authority Index and what does it measure?
Agilience covers nearly 10,000 topics ranging from sports, medical disciplines, hobbies, industries, countries, cities, and musical genres.
In determining true influencers, the Agilience algorithm measures the institutions’ authority “with two objective criteria: their focus on the topic and their recognition by their peers. Thus, topic authorities are in the best position to post or share a story that will widely resonate within the community, this is the resonance factor.”
International Authority Rankings for Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety
In November 2022, Agilience ranked the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety in four categories:
- Patient Safety: top-100
- Physicians: top-750
- Health Management: top-750
- Nursing: top-750
Being ranked for patient safety, which is a core mission of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, is an honor.
Moreover, PPAHS’s ranking with Doctors and Nurses also speaks volumes about another key issue – the clinician-patient relationship. I believe that the clinician-patient relationship is of utmost importance. An open, honest, and trusted discussion is essential for optimal patient health. As Theodore A. Stern, MD and his colleagues at the Harvard Medical School write:
At its core, the doctor-patient relationship represents a fiduciary relationship in which, by entering into the relationship, the physician agrees to respect the patient’s autonomy, maintain confidentiality, explain treatment options, obtain informed consent, provide the highest standard of care, and commit not to abandon the patient without giving him or her adequate time to find a new doctor. However, such a contractual definition fails to portray the immense and profound nature of the doctor-patient relationship. Patients sometimes reveal secrets, worries, and fears to physicians that they have not yet disclosed to friends or family members. Placing trust in a doctor helps them maintain or regain their health and well-being. This unique relationship encompasses 4 key elements: mutual knowledge, trust, loyalty, and regard.
Although the reference in the above quote only speaks about the physician-patient relationship, I believe that the same can apply to a patient’s relationship with other healthcare professionals. For example, I have previously written on the importance of nurses in patient care. A 2015 Press Gainey report, “Nursing Special Report: The Influence of Nurse Work Environment on Patient, Payment and Nurse Outcomes in Acute Care Settings” found that hospitals with better nurse staffing and work environments tend to have fewer readmissions for heart failure, pneumonia, and myocardial infarction. Says the Press Gainey report:
Staffing and work environments influence the efficacy and the efficiency of nurses’ delivery of discharge instructions that ensure patients understand how to care for themselves and when to seek medical attention post discharge. These instructions are critical to reducing readmission rates and must be provided throughout the patient stay … Although readmission rates are generally lower when staffing is better, the nurse work environment has a significant positive impact on readmissions, even in settings with lower staffing scores.
Lastly, being ranked in the top-750 for Health Management again goes to another core element of what PPAHS does. PPAHS is an accredited provider of continuing medical education. The objective of our CME efforts is to teach clinicians best practices to improve patient safety and the quality of patient care.
PPAHS is a Collaborative Effort
Achieving these rankings is truly a collaborative effort. I would like to thank the tremendous support from corporate sponsors, clinicians, our board of advisors, and patients—not only in the United States but around the world. Thanks to the efforts of many corporations, organizations, clinicians, and volunteers, PPAHS has been and will continue to be a force for improving patient safety and care.
To read more about what PPAHS has achieved in the past decade, please read our 10th Anniversary Report.