restorARTively

In the Sept/Oct issue of the industry publication, "Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare , the founder and president of the Pennsylvania based Institute for Safe Medication Practices wrote an astonishingly biased editorial on the prosecution of a pharmacist in the wake of the preventable death of two year old Emily Jerry. Read her mother's testimony to the Ohio State Pharmacy Board here. Mr. Cohen acknowledges speaking to a variety of stakeholders in the case and reading transcripts and records as research for his article. He acknowledges her mother's (Kelly Jerry) impactful testimony. He never mentions reaching out to her, her attorneys, or her nonprofit healthcare safety organization (offers education to providers) to gather information for full coverage of the topic he states, is "an injustice of throwing healthcare professionals who make mistakes - even deadly mistakes - into the criminal arena when their errors were unintentional, caused by system failures...

Anger moves things. T his Opinion Editorial from today's Wall Street Journal really ticked me off. Taking advantage of his advanced education and the weight the general public will give it, this author is putting forth decades old myths about medical malpractice. I have spent the past seven years digging against the strength of a huge institution to find out what happened to my son and then gathering the personal strength to share what I have learned so others (including the providers) do not suffer needlessly. In Pennsylvania alone, which put in place its own tort reform in March 2002, there were approximately 350,000 reported sentinel events to the state's Patient Safety Authority for 2007. For the same time period there were only about 1300-1400 medical malpractice cases on the judicial dockets. That is one-half of one-percent. And, of those few cases that will go to jury trial , the vast majority will be found for the defense. I am proud to be an American. There are multitu...

Yesterday was a milestone in my personal and professional pursuit for restoration of peace and justice for my son and millions others who have not had a voice in health care . I earned a Master's degree in Restorative Practices and Education. Having deferred a law school admission after my adventures in health care & medical malpractice litigation instead, I took a calculated risk on the long lasting benefits of this new emerging social science which aims to "restore community in a disconnected world". After receiving the strange shaped yellow hood and fresh parchment and finally taking a breather I checked my email. There were three new requests from three different individuals involved in incidents of harm (all in health care ) seeking information and guidance on how to move forward restoratively in their conflicts. As I move forward to do what I had hoped to be qualified to do, I appreciate our graduation speaker's challenges to all the graduates. Terry O...

Modern Healthcare Magazine is now accepting votes for the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. After receiving thousands of nominations the editors have settled on a final nominee list of 300. The list will be published in their August 2009 issue. So, in August you can celebrate or be disappointed, or maybe terrified, depending on whom got the most votes. With all due respect for the passion and dedication these nominees share in their work, these lists of “Most of Anything” are fallibly constructed. There really isn't any data or studies or professional evaluations for its worth. It reminds me of the voting that will happen today at my daughter’s school for 7th grade class president. It’s who you know, how many people will campaign for you, and how many friends you have. Does this exercise in health care have merit while there is so much attention and pleas for restoring health to the healthcare system itself? Or is it an exercise in perpetuating the problems by exploiting the ...

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/01/babys_body_tossed_with_the_tra.html I had a long day and THEN received a call about this tragic case. I spent a good bit of the afternoon just feeling "tired from the fight". Every thing I do today is a result of the loss of James seven years ago from preventable medical error which was then quickly compounded by the infamous "wall of silence". I am fully invested in a graduate degree called "Restorative Practice". No, it has nothing to do with Dentistry. It has everything to do with caring for the relationships we build, maintain, and even lose. If you have read anything about me and my presence in the national healthcare safety discussion, you know that I am very eager to find some kind of redemption for why my newborn had to die - a civil suit, post verdict discussion with a defendant, speaking engagements, training new medical providers, and now a degree all about relationships and building community. I am ea...

This is copywrighted material. No reproduction in whole or in part may be reprinted without express, written permission from the author. Introduction In a response to medical malpractice crisis in 2001, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority was created through legislation as a result of these concerns there is new data to study. There are 300,000 to 400,000 “sentinel event” (an outcome of treatment that is unexpected and has left the patient preventably injured or deceased) reports in the state each year (Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, 2007). It is widely accepted amongst stakeholders there is underreporting and misunderstanding as to what classifies as a reportable “sentinel event”. Hospital acquired infection, wrong site surgery, ventilator-induced pneumothorax are a few examples that have been identified by government agencies (Agency or Healthcare Research and Quality) as preventable and sentinel events. It appears much concern is driven by medical malpract...

Learning comes from listening. “You have one mouth and two ears,” is a Maori (New Zealand) saying my peers shared during a Restorative Practices graduate course. I keep that in mind while adding - I have two eyes and one dominant hand. After six weeks of graduate level study, I feel most aware of many inadequacies, shortcomings and talents not fully saddled. The discussion of concepts, ideas and life experiences shared by my classmates was a key component in my overall learning experience. Who'd of thought a young, handsome, intelligent man would be the one in a mixed group to refuse to reveal his age? As I excitedly turned 40 this month, this young man, Joe, a new classmate in grad school, was holding back. He had good reason. He learned the hard way early that when people know his age, automatically a certain set of expectations and judgments are cast upon him, his abilities and his intentions. Who wants to be placed in such an unforgiving box? I try to follow a similar ...