Conference focuses on the power of storytelling to make a difference in health care

Approximately 1,400 people from across Yale New Haven Health and Yale University attended the 2019 Safety, Quality and Experience Conference June 5 at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford. Following the theme, “The Power of Storytelling,” speakers framed their shared presentations around personal events that touched on experiences, events and interactions.

Guest speakers included Lucy Kalanithi, MD, widow of the late Paul Kalanithi, MD, author of the bestselling memoir, When Breath Becomes Air. She wrote the book’s epilogue. Other speakers were Michael Englesbe, MD, director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan-supported Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative and co-director of the Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement Network; and Matthew Dicks, founder and artistic director of SpeakUp, a Hartford-based storytelling organization.

The conference showcased more than 50 juried project initiatives that addressed best practices in clinical redesign, general performance improvement, patient experience and patient safety.

The Safety, Quality and Experience Conference aligned the Joseph A. Zaccagnino Patient Safety and Clinical Quality Conference with the Yale Medicine Quality and Safety Symposium and the YNHHS Patient Experience Conference for a dynamic day of learning and collaboration.

LEFT: A YNHH team was named delivery network winner for clinical redesign for the project “Pre-operative Optimization of Total Joint Arthroplasty Patients Decreases Readmissions and Promotes Patient Engagement.” Members are (front row, l-r): Christen Nelson, RN, Mary O’Connor, MD, and Dannielle Stone, RN. Back row (l-r) are: Gail Haesche, RN, Olukemi Akande, MD, Jensa Morris, MD, and Anne Moore, DNP. Not pictured are: Lee Rubin, MD, David Gibson, MD, Jill Zafar, MD, Lorraine Novella, RN, Heidi Rillstone, RN, and Vikki Winks, PT-C.

RIGHT: A YNHH team was named category winner for patient safety for the project “The Durable Impact of a Multifaceted Effort by Surgical Trainees to Minimize the Prescription of Postoperative Opioids.” Team members are (l-r): Peter Yoo, MD, Alexander Chiu, MD, and Raymond Jean, MD. Not pictured: Mollie Freedman-Weiss, MD.

LEFT: A YNHH team was the delivery network winner in the patient safety category for the project “Universal Protocol: The Path to Zero Patient Harm in the Non-Operative Setting.” Team members are, front row (l-r): Jeannette Bronsord, RN, Jacqueline Richo and Darcy Hennessey, RN. Back: Leslie Hutchins, RN, and William Cushing, PA. Not pictured: Maxwell Laurans, MD, and Victoria Dahl Vickers, RN.

RIGHT: A YNHH team was the delivery network winner in the patient experience category for the project “Impact of Health System Specialty Pharmacy Services on Medication Adherence in Pediatric Patients with Cystic Fibrosis.” Team members are, front row (l-r): Sarah Kelly, PharmD, Talia Papiro, PharmD, and Martha Stutsky, PharmD. Back row: Mitchell DelVecchio, PharmD, (left) and Vincent Tao, PharmD.

LEFT: A YNHHS team was named general performance improvement category winner for the project “Impact of a Pharmacist Driven Anti-Xa Level Monitoring Protocol on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Practice Patterns.” Members are Kent Owusu, Pharm D, and Martha Stutsky, PharmD. Not pictured are Muhammad Effendi, Pharm D, and Alfred Lee, MD.

RIGHT: A YNHHS team was named delivery network winner for patient safety for the project “Enhancing the Safe Use of Vancomycin Across Yale New Haven Health System Through a Vancomycin Medication Administration Record Level.” Team members are front row (l-r): Laura De Vaux, RN, Jeffrey Topal, MD, and Dayna McManus, Pharm D. Back row (l-r) are: Sunish Shah, PharmD, Leslie Hutchins, RN, and Ginger Rouse, Pharm D. Not pictured: Eric Tichy, Pharm D.

A Yale Medicine team was named delivery network winner in the general performance category for the project “Evaluating the Impact of the Oncology Extended Care Clinic on Emergency Department Visit Rates.” Members are (front row, l-r): Maureen Canavan, PhD, Bonnie Gould Rothberg, MD, PhD, and Tannaz Sedghi. Back row are Tracy Carafeno, RN, (left) and Kerin Adelson, MD. Not pictured: Amy Davidoff, PhD, Cary Gross, MD, Michael Strait, JD, Naralys Sinanis and Maureen Raucci, RN.