On January 16, CAPS presented the Webinar, “Healing after Harm.” The webinar may be found under News on the CAPS webpage, patientsafety.org. A definition of “harm” is “Ill treatment; the impairment of physical or mental health (including that suffered from seeing, or hearing another person suffer ill treatment )” When harm happens in healthcare, how patients, providers and administrators respond can mitigate or exacerbate the situation. Mary Ellen Mannix explains that after the death of her son, she sought legal remedies to the harm that occurred. But, that did not lead to healing. She stud ..read more

We write objectives to support seeking Continuing Education Certification for our Consumers Advancing Patient Safety Webinars. They do not, however, capture the depth and breadth of the topic. Such was the case for December’s webinar, A Person-Centered Approach to Meaning Making: Rituals and Celebrations in Health Care Settings with subject matter experts, Rachel Weissman, MA, patient advisor and CAPS Patient and Family Engagement specialist with a patient perspective and Claudia Ricks Hubbard, MDiv, BCC, Senior Staff Chaplain and Educator at Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City. If you ..read more

Consumers Advancing Patient Safety Presents: HEALTHCARE EQUITY AND YOU What can YOU do to achieve equitable outcomes? HealthCare Equity and YOU – A CAPS Perspectives Series Webinar The first Webinar in the CAPS Perspectives Series featured Erica Gollett-Steed, MBA and Ronald Wyatt, MD sharing their insights into how you as a patient or clinician can achieve health equity. Steed shares her impactful story of inequity, where implicit bias in her care led to long-term injury to her then newborn, now teenage, son. Steed encourages persons to be the “CEO of our temples – bodies,” by: Having aware ..read more

I read Bottle of Lies – The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom by Katherine Eban. It traces the frightening lack of effective oversight and integrity in the Generic Medicine supply chain. My family has likely been impacted by poor quality generics. This reads as a true to life thriller. I was impressed that patient advocacy has played a role in starting to resolve some of the generic medicine issues. But not all! Much remains to be done, especially for patients that live outside of the United States. If you are taking a generic medicine and it is not as effective as the name brand, talk to ..read more

Did you know: Please See Me is an online literary journal that features health- and healthcare-related stories in the form of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and digital media, including photography, podcasts, and short films. At the heart of the publication is the cultivation of meaningful patient–provider partnerships in the spirit of wellness. To that end, Please See Me publishes work written by patients, family members, creatives, caregivers, and providers. The Second issue is now available! Congratulations to CAPS board Member Tracy Granzyk who produces Please See Me: https://plea ..read more

CAPS provided Patient and Family Engagement technical support to the Hospital Engagement Networks (2012-2015) and Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (2015-2020) programs and the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (2015-2019). These programs were efforts made by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (the Innovation Center). The HEN, HIIN and TCPI programs focused on improving Patient Safety, with Patient and Family Engagement (PFE) as an integral part of the work. Over 150 patients, for example, participated on weekly educational webinars in the HEN and HIIN programs. Pat ..read more

“Giving patients more of a voice in healthcare is hugely important” – Marty Hatlie Marty Hatlie, CAPS founder and board member, participated on a panel at the MedStar Crouse Patient Safety Lecture on October 2, 2019. Hatlie joined patient safety legends Dr. Lucian Leape, professor emeritus of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Deputy Undersecretary for Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks in the Veterans Health Administration. to discuss patient safety. Dr. Leape is known as the grandfather of patient safety. His article, Err ..read more

Last June the CAPS Board honored me by asking me to be the Executive Director of your CAPS organization. I’ve been working with CAPS in Patient and Family Engagement consulting and developing Education events for six years. My advocacy was a response to my now adult child’s lifelong chronic complex medical needs. Professionally, my background is in broadcasting and marketing. I’ve worked with some of the best radio stations in America and have taught communications and marketing. But, as I navigated the healthcare system with Skyler, I saw the need for healthcare to create better connections ..read more