Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Congratulations to Ben and team!

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts announced today that its first ever Health Care Excellence Award will be presented to BIDMC for the work done by our OB/Gyn Department in team training. I wrote about this program in a post on January 20. After a series of terrible errors, the department (along with folks from other departments), reevaluated its approach to quality, safety, and communication. Under the leadership of Chief Ben Sachs, the group learned how to apply "crew resource management" techniques to enhance their ability to carry out obstetric procedures. Ben has since become a proselytizer and instructor of these techniques to many people throughout the country.

The award will be formally presented at a BC/BS conference at the Parker House in Boston on April 2, entitled High Performance Health Care: What It Takes.

Congratulations to Ben and the whole team! And, many thanks to Blue Cross Blue Shield for this recognition and honor.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

OB/Gyn Department: Congratulations are absolutely deserved by the entire team and for encouraging a culture that allows this success to emerge. The reason for my response however, is to use this blog as a "Suggestion Box". Three close friends over the past year have undergone successful major cadiothoracic surgery (valves and by-pass). Three different venues (including BIDMC). Same complaint: Great team, great surgery--unbelieveable quality nursing following surgery BUT once transferred...the quality of nursing care went down. No kidding...the level of one on one care in an intensive care setting is no longer required but no one had bothered to explain that to the patients and to re-set the expectations appropriately and consistent with their clinical need --so they each felt like they had been down-graded, or something...seems like a simple fix...good luck steve

Anonymous said...

Do you mean in the hospital (once out of the ICU) or in a rehb facility?