Patient Safety Summit to be Livestreamed

- The patient safety crisis represents a major global health issue, with some studies suggesting medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. The World Health Organization estimates that around 1 in 10 patients are harmed while receiving health care and that over half of this harm is preventable. - The Patient Safety Movement Foundation was founded in 2012 by Joe Kiani, an electrical engineer and CEO of the medical technology company Masimo. Kiani was inspired to act by statistics showing more than 200,000 people were dying annually in the U.S. from preventable causes in hospitals. - A key focus of the summit is leveraging technology to reduce human error. Professionals in bioinformatics and computational biology contribute by developing systems like Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) to prevent medication errors, using barcode scanning to ensure correct medication administration, and creating AI-powered analytics to detect safety risks in real-time. - Patient-facing roles in this field often require a clinical background. For example, a Patient Safety Officer, frequently a Registered Nurse (RN) with specialized training, is responsible for investigating safety events, analyzing data for trends, and implementing new safety protocols within a hospital. - The annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit has previously featured prominent keynote speakers from outside the medical field, including former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, to help drive its policy and awareness goals. - The Foundation's primary mission is to achieve zero preventable patient deaths by the year 2030, a goal it pursues by creating and promoting free, evidence-based solutions for hospitals to implement. - Beyond the human cost, the financial impact is significant, with the annual global cost of medication errors alone estimated at $42 billion. - Careers in this sector are varied and growing, including roles like Patient Safety Analyst, who reviews safety data, and Healthcare Risk Manager, who focuses on identifying and mitigating potential risks in patient care.