COPIC Comment: Focus on patient safety

Sunday, September 01, 2013 12:38 PM

COPIC continues to invest in ways that benefit Colorado insureds and health care

Ted J. Clarke, MD
Chairman & CEO
COPIC Insurance Company

When I describe COPIC, my conversation often veers toward the topic of patient safety. I believe the ideals of patient safety connect with the heart of our mission and support our common goal to deliver the best patient care possible.

This requires an investment in staying connected to the ideas at the forefront of patient safety. More importantly, it requires involvement. Since COPIC’s inception, we have identified opportunities to be part of the national discussion on this topic. It enables us to understand best practices from the leaders and organizations who are defining what patient safety means to health care and how it can lead us to better results.

The knowledge we gain from our focus on patient safety is passed along to our insureds through the programs and materials we provide them. It can be found in the medical resources and tools we post on our website, the speakers who present at our conferences, and the educational courses we develop to address current trends.

COPIC’s emphasis on patient safety is also defined through our interactions with insureds. Listening to the specific challenges faced by our insureds gives us information to determine how we can work together to come up with the best solutions.

Examples of our involvement in patient safety initiatives include:

• Our physician risk managers are at the center of discussions at nationally-recognized events. The Telluride Patient Safety Roundtable is regarded as one of the top forums that bring together health care leaders and patient safety advocates to connect with medical residents and students. Alan Lembitz, MD, COPIC’s chief medical officer, and Jeffrey Varnell, MD, medical director for COPIC’s 3Rs Program, were among the faculty who facilitated interactive discussions at this year’s event. Not only does this event provide us access to the latest strategies to reduce patient harm, but it also connects us with young physicians and their ideas for the role of patient safety in health care.
• We support partnerships designed to foster a cultural shift. In 2012, COPIC formed a partnership with the University of Colorado Health-Poudre Valley Health System to launch a pilot program known as Seven Pillars. Its comprehensive approach reinforces key principles of patient safety among members of health care teams and was developed by recognized medical leaders at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. During the last year, the project team trained physicians, administrators and staff in the Seven Pillars concepts. We will continue to follow results from this program as it reinforces patient safety among medical teams.
• Our data offers valuable insight that can be used to improve patient care. The information that COPIC tracks tells a rich and detailed story about how and why medical liability issues arise. We are working with the Rand Corporation to analyze this data and determine links between patient safety and our efforts to reduce claims through education programs and resources. The results of this study will further help us support insureds and provide insight that will benefit the broader health care community.
• Our involvement with medical organizations offers new ways to contribute. COPIC Medical Foundation recently approved a grant for the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to support its Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care. COPIC will be one of the inaugural members of this council, which strives to improve patient safety through multidisciplinary collaboration that focuses on understanding the causes of patient harm, pursuing programs and tools to implement safety initiatives, and disseminating valuable patient safety information. And our involvement at the state level continues to build strong partnerships. For example, the work we do with the Colorado Medical Society supports a stable medical liability environment that fosters improvements in patient safety.

All of these efforts support the ways in which we provide actionable ideas and trusted advice to our insureds. And being a partner for better medicine is what inspires us at COPIC – our commitment to patient safety is stronger than ever and continues to be an investment that yields positive results.