Date – March 30, 2009
FOCUS (Flawless Operative Cardiovascular Unified Systems) is making tremendous progress. On Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 11:00 am, as part of the upcoming SCA Annual Meeting in
San Antonio, Texas, a one hour session will be devoted to the FOCUS initiative.
The First Data from the LENS of FOCUS will showcase the first peek behind the curtain to look at the data will be presented by Dr Peter Pronovost of Johns Hopkins University Center on Quality Patient Care. Dr Spiess will then conjecture on what future direction FOCUS will take and describe the
Next Steps to Continue Our Focus on Human Error. In some respects those directions will be like entering a traffic circle. Any number of branching points and spokes could/should be taken from the original entry point (our original data gathering). Which ones will be traveled are hard to predict until the data is fully analyzed and recommendations are created. But, the session should provide feedback to the membership and reward for not only their support but hard work over the four years to get to this point. We are sure that enthusiastic members who have undergone the site visitation may well provide participation from the floor on what it was like to participate in this process. All the membership is encouraged not only to attend the FOCUS session at the annual meeting but to watch for ways in which they can participate and help. Calls have gone to the membership for participation in committees of FOCUS. Please look for more requests for volunteerism as well as your personal philanthropic donations to move FOCUS forward.
The FOCUS team has held past and on-going discussions with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons on a very high level. Our goal is to involve all the stake-holders in the care of cardiac surgical patients. Eventually it is envisioned that FOCUS will be an example for all of medicine as a method of self study and self improvement with reduction in human error. Communications will be forthcoming from FOCUS to AMSECT, AORN and other surgical, nursing, critical care and allied health societies to see if they will band with SCA Foundation in driving FOCUS to it ultimate goal (improved patient safety).
