In this Issue:
  • Video from the Executive Director 
  • 2018 Highlights 
  • 2019 Strategic Work Plan Update
  • 2019 Contribution Campaign
  • Board of Directors Elects New Officers
End of Year Update, Annual Contribution Campaign, and Happy New Year!

Video from the Executive Director:
We sincerely appreciate all of our member contributions which make our safety engagement and improvement work possible, especially as we kick-off our Annual Contribution Campaign. Please go to our website to watch this special video for an end of year message from our Executive Director.

2018 Reflection:
Since 2000, MAPS has provided a forum for community collaboration to improve safety. Please see the following 2018 highlights of our work for the safety and the health care community:
  • Our 9th biennial safety conference received excellent reviews: It is the largest conference of its kind in the region with nearly 300 attendees. This year’s conference, “Reigniting the Passion for Safe Care,” took place October 25-26, and featured powerful patient stories to inspire health care and community attendees to re-commit to delivering safe care. Attendees rated the conference a 4.8/5 with respect to providing actionable tools and strategies to enhance and sustain their organization’s safety programs and practices. A few of our favorite feedback excerpts:
  • My first conference – excellent, real life. Many people expressed how this is the best conference they came to!
  • The whole conference energized my passion and commitment to patient safety and empowerment.”
  • Please continue to feature patients and their stories – perhaps including caregivers and clinicians involved; everyone needs to be cognizant of the stories behind the statistics.”
  • Our “Include Always: Community Conversations for Safe Care” pilot shows success: We have started hosting conversations to educate patients, residents, and families on medical error and patient safety. We end each session by asking participants to volunteer with health care organizations, for example, as patient partners on a safety committee. Our goal for the 2019 formal launch of this program is to coordinate with health systems, hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities to deploy patient, resident, and family partners to help improve safety.
  • We made a commitment to the future with a full-time leadership position: For the first time since its inception, MAPS now has a full-time executive director. This full-time appointment will accelerate and expand MAPS’ important work.
 

2019 Strategic Work Plan Update:
As we build on the momentum of the conference, leverage strengthened infrastructure and community relationships as a subsidiary of Stratis Health, and increase staffing, MAPS has exciting plans for 2019. Portions of our plan are highlighted below:
  • We will launch a broader “Include Always: Community Conversations for Safe Care” program to engage Minnesota’s patients, residents, and families in safety improvement and work with our health care delivery organizations to do so. Please visit the Include Always website for background information or to read patient stories and please email us if you are interested in learning more about our Community Conversations.
  • We are advancing new collaborations which positively impact safety across the continuum of care:
  • MAPS serves on a group addressing quality and safety in long-term care, and is exploring a leadership role within a coalition aiming to prevent maltreatment of vulnerable adults.
  • MAPS has grant submissions under review, including research in diagnostic error and disseminating OpenNotes (patient access to clinical notes) into new care settings. These unique projects leverage partnerships with diverse organizations across the care continuum in both rural areas and metro settings.
  • We joined the Minnesota Shared Decision-Making Collaborative: MAPS will play a key role in efforts to engage and activate patients in shared decision-making.
  • We continue as a valued advisor around healthcare-associated infections: MAPS is an advisor to Minnesota Department of Health’s Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Advisory Group and the Leadership Council for the Collaborative Healthcare-Associated Infection Network (CHAIN).    

2019 Contribution Campaign:
We have kicked off our annual Contribution Campaign. A key contact in your organization should have received an email and letter request from MAPS. A financial contribution to MAPS demonstrates your dedication to safety and recognition that safety is advanced best when approached collaboratively. MAPS is the only non-profit organization in MN focused solely on reducing medical errors in healthcare delivery. On behalf of Minnesota patients/residents/families, our board of directors, and team, we hope you will support of MAPS in 2019. Your partnership and contribution makes our mission of “Safe Care Everywhere” possible. If you have any questions regarding how you can best support MAPS, or if you are an individual wanting to get involved, please email us at maps@mnpatientsafety.org .

Board of Directors Elects New Officers:
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Tim Morgenthaler, Chief Patient Safety Officer, Mayo Clinic, will step into the role of Chair. Patti Cullen, President and CEO, Care Providers of Minnesota, will move into the role of Vice Chair and continue to represent MAPS on the Stratis Health Board. Janet Silversmith, CEO, Minnesota Medical Association, will step into an officer role as Secretary/Treasurer of the MAPS board. We sincerely thank Gayle Kvenvold, President and CEO, LeadingAge Minnesota, for her dedicated service as Chair since 2016. For a complete list of our Board of Directors, please visit our website here .

We wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season!

− Catherine Hinz, MHA, CPPS
Executive Director, MN Alliance for Patient Safety