Patient Safety for Vulnerable Populations

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The long-term objective of this application is to have a well established infrastructure at Boston University for conducting cutting-edge research in the area of patient safety. In recent years patient safety has become a significant public policy issue as new information has surfaced indicating that each year an alarmingly high number of patients are victims of medical errors that can result in death of severe injury. Patients who are economically and culturally disadvantaged may be particularly vulnerable to medical errors. The applicants seek funding for a developmental center for patient safety to commonly arise in the delivery of ambulatory care services to low income, culturally disadvantaged populations. The safety issues including internal medicine, family medicine, organizational management, economics, informatics, and statistics. Team members are from Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Public Health, and Morehouse School of Medicine. For purposes of the proposed center, the team has formed links with the various clinical components of the Boston Medical Center, an urban academic medical center that serves a large population of Medicaid recipients and uninsured individuals The proposed developmental center will serve as a vehicle for cultivating the expertise of team members in patient safety and identifying among team members common areas of interest and complementary skills for developing patient safety research projects. Them team has identified three areas of initial interest for studying patient safety issues within ambulatory settings: medication errors, procedure-related errors and treatment errors related to management of chronic conditions. As part of the center the team will plan and conduct a pilot study at Boston Medical Center. Te team will also plan future studies at the clinical delivery sites that are affiliated with the Morehouse School of Medicine, a minority institution that has a long- standing history of providing healthcare services to underserved communities.