National Patient Safety Foundation Announces Research Grant Recipients For 2007-2008

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 24 Apr 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) Research Grants Program recently awarded two grants, representing a total of nearly $200,000, for research projects beginning in 2008. The James S. Todd Memorial Research Award was issued to a team led by Nancy Franklin, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook University. The NPSF Board Grant was awarded to a group headed by Harold Kaplan, MD, Professor of Clinical Pathology and Director of Transfusion Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The NPSF Board Grant, awarded for the first time this year, is made possible through generous support from the NPSF Board of Directors and Board of Governors.

Dr. Franklin's study, titled "Interruptions in the Emergency Room," will examine the dynamics of interruptions to emergency room workflow and will explore how skillful management of interruptions may minimize their potential negative impact on patient care.

Dr. Kaplan's project, "Knowledge Discovery: The development of an error/solution matrix to improve patient safety," will harness data from medical event and near-miss reports to develop an error-solutions framework linking medical errors with effective error-reduction strategies.

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) Research Grants Program seeks to stimulate new, innovative projects directed toward enhancing patient safety in the United States. The program's objective is to promote studies leading to the prevention of human errors, system errors, patient injuries and the consequences of such adverse events in the health care setting. Since 1998, the National Patient Safety Foundation Research Program has supported 30 research projects with a total of nearly $3 million in grant funding. A majority of these grants have been awarded to interdisciplinary teams to support research on diverse topics in areas such as medication errors, organizational design, and disclosure or communication issues.

NPSF's dedication to research in patient safety has led to collaborative efforts with other organizations who share the same goals. The James S. Todd Memorial Research Award was established in honor of the past Executive Vice President of the American Medical Association (AMA), who was instrumental in founding NPSF. Collaborations with The Commonwealth Fund and The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation have also resulted in the support of unique and valuable projects.

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving patient safety and reducing medical errors through research, education, and dissemination of programs. It is an unprecedented partnership of stakeholders working together to raise awareness and improve the safety of the health care system. NPSF was founded in 1997 by the American Medical Association, CNA HealthPro, and 3M, with significant support from the Schering-Plough Corporation.

National Patient Safety Foundation