From the nation’s leading experts in healthcare safety―the first comprehensive guide to delivering care that ensures the safety of patients and staff alike.

One of the primary tenets among healthcare professionals is, “First, do no harm.” Achieving this goal means ensuring the safety of both patient and caregiver. Every year in the United States alone, an estimated 4.8 million hospital patients suffer serious harm that is preventable. To address this industry-wide problem―and provide evidence-based solutions―a team of award-winning safety specialists from Press Ganey/Healthcare Performance Improvement have applied their decades of experience and research to the subject of patient and workforce safety. Their mission is to achieve zero harm in the healthcare industry, a lofty goal that some hospitals have already accomplished―which you can, too.

Combining the latest advances in safety science, data technology, and high reliability solutions, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement 6 simple principles in your workplace.

1. Commit to the goal of zero harm.

2. Become more patient-centric.

3. Recognize the interdependency of safety, quality, and patient-centricity.

4. Adopt good data and analytics.

5. Transform culture and leadership.

6. Focus on accountability and execution.

In Zero Harm, the world’s leading safety experts share practical, day-to-day solutions that combine the latest tools and technologies in healthcare today with the best safety practices from high-risk, yet high-reliability industries, such as aviation, nuclear power, and the United States military. Using these field-tested methods, you can develop new leadership initiatives, educate workers on the universal skills that can save lives, organize and train safety action teams, implement reliability management systems, and create long-term, transformational change. You’ll read case studies and success stories from your industry colleagues―and discover the most effective ways to utilize patient data, information sharing, and other up-to-the-minute technologies. It’s a complete workplace-ready program that’s proven to reduce preventable errors and produce measurable results―by putting the patient, and safety, first.

Craig Clapper, PE, CMQ/OE, is a partner in Press Ganey Strategic Consulting and a founding partner of Healthcare Performance Improvement (HPI). For 30 years, he has been a leader in safety culture transformation for Duke Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy, ABB, Westinghouse, Framatome ANP, Sentara Healthcare, and Sharp Healthcare. He has served as Chief Knowledge Officer of HPI, Chief Operating Officer of HPI, and Chief Operating Officer of Performance Improvement International, among other executive positions in the nuclear power industry.

James Merlino, MD, is Chief Transformation Officer of Press Ganey, the leading provider of patient experience measurement, performance analytics, and strategic advisory solutions for healthcare organizations across the continuum of care. Jim has been recognized as one of Becker’s Healthcare’s “50 Experts Leading the Field of Patient Safety” in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. An accomplished surgeon and industry leader in improving the patient experience, Jim served as Chief Experience Officer and Associate Chief of Staff at the Cleveland Clinic health system. He is the author of Service Fanatics: How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way.

Carole Stockmeier, MHA, is a partner in Press Ganey Strategic Consulting. Over her career, she has supported comprehensive safety culture engagements at hospitals and integrated health systems and has helped organizations achieve significant improvement in safety reliability. Prior to joining Press Ganey, Carole was a partner at HPI. Previously, she served as the Director of Safety and Performance Excellence at Sentara Healthcare, providing operational leadership for Sentara’s patient safety initiatives, with outcomes recognized with the American Hospital Association 2004 Quest for Quality Prize and the 2005 John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality.