375th MDG joins national effort to promote patient safety awareness Published Feb. 26, 2014 By Patty Palmer-Reider 375th Medical Group Patient Safety Program Manager SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- In an effort to raise awareness and encourage the engagement of patients, families, health care providers, and the public, the 375th Medical Group announced recently its participation in the 2014 Patient Safety Awareness Week campaign. The awareness week, March 2-8, is an annual education and awareness campaign for health care safety led by the National Patient Safety Foundation. Each year, health care organizations around the world take part in the event, creating awareness in their community and among their staff. This year's theme, "Navigate Your Health ... Safely," highlights the need for health care providers to ensure that patients and consumers are more engaged in the health care process, whether visiting the doctor for a routine exam or entering the hospital for surgery. "Health care today is extremely complex," said Tejal K. Gandhi , MD, MPH, CPPS, NPSF president. "All of us will be patients at some point in life, and we should approach that experience the way we would approach any important journey--with careful planning and communication. 'Navigate Your Health ... Safely' reminds us that that providing safe patient care can best be achieved when patients are a key part of the team and take an active role in their care." This year's campaign is also stressing greater awareness of diagnostic errors, an area that has not been widely studied in the medical literature. A diagnostic error can be defined as a wrong, delayed, or missed diagnosis, and while not all diagnostic errors result in patient harm, they represent the leading cause of malpractice cases for many organizations. The 375th Medical Group will engage staff, patients, and the community through educational and awareness-building activities specific to patient safety science and practice.