If We Know How to Stop Patient Harm, Why Is It Still Rising?

In this episode of the Chief Healthcare Officer Podcast, Dr. Fatih Mehmet Gül speaks with Dr. Nicholas Testa, Chief Clinical Officer at Sentact, emergency physician, healthcare executive, and educator at the University of Southern California.The conversation begins with a difficult question: after decades of patient safety work, protocols, root cause analyses, high-reliability frameworks, and major investment in quality programs, why is preventable harm in hospitals still rising?Dr. Testa argues that the answer is rarely just another protocol. Even the best checklist can fail when a clinician feels it is safer to stay silent. Real patient safety depends on trust, psychological safety, accountability, leadership behaviour, and the daily culture inside hospitals.Drawing on his experience as an emergency physician, hospital CMO, regional clinical leader across 29 hospitals in California, and now Chief Clinical Officer at Sentact, Dr. Testa explains why healthy safety cultures often report more harm events, not fewer, because people feel safe enough to surface problems.The episode explores how healthcare leaders can build trust, manage incident reporting without creating fear, balance psychological safety with accountability, use data more intelligently, and make rounding and safety huddles part of the operating rhythm of the hospital.Topics discussed include:• Why preventable harm remains a major challenge in hospitals• Why “zero harm” can become dangerous if it discourages honest reporting• The difference between safety and quality• Why trust is the operating system of healthcare• How leaders unintentionally erode trust under pressure• Why psychological safety does not mean avoiding difficult conversations• How to balance accountability and vulnerability as a clinical leader• Why CMOs must question their data, not just review dashboards• The role of patient safety organizations and shared learning across hospitals• Why rounding is one of the most powerful leadership behaviours• How daily safety huddles can change hospital culture• What boards and senior leaders need to understand about preventable harmIf this conversation resonates with you, share it with one healthcare colleague who needs to hear it. Patient safety does not improve through quiet agreement. It improves through louder conversations in the right rooms.Check out Dr. Fatih's Connected Care Book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Connected-Care-Transformation-Human-Centred-Healthcare/dp/9699797118Listen to the episode and let us know what you think using the contact form on our website: https://www.chiefhealthcareofficer.com. Follow Dr Fatih Mehmet Gül on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfameg/Visit Dr Fatih's Website - https://www.fatihmehmetgul.com/Subscribe to the CHO LinkedIn Newsletter - https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-chief-healthcare-officer-6939938177927241728/