PODCAST · science
Safety Net
by CRICO
The latest thinking from clinical and patient safety leaders from Harvard and around the world. A steady stream of interviews, news updates, legal guidance, effective practices, event highlights, and more.
Episodes
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Getting Control of AI in Healthcare
As AI takes root in the delivery of healthcare from clinical analysis to appointment-making, two physician safety leaders think about governance and concerns raised through the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization at CRICO.
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Safe Births are a Team Effort
Hospital birthing center uses a teams-based protocol to honor patient’s wishes and focused communication tactics among providers and with patients.
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Taking the Mystery Out of Being a Clinician Defendant
Defendants in the Harvard medical community have a new way to learn about the legal machinery and personal coping strategies they’ll need to be good participants in their defense. Listeners learn how a leading edge litigation preparation video program was incubated through CRICO, with guests Gita...
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Defending Providers is Different Today, Says Legal Expert After 45 Years
What can you say after 45 years defending doctors, nurses, and hospitals in the Harvard medical community? A lot. Defending providers in court requires something different in 2026 than what prevailed in the 1980s, according to John Cassidy, who is retiring as senior partner at Ficksman and…
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How Application Forms and Burnout Threaten MD Mental Health and Patient Safety
Progress in the work to solve a problem that threatens all providers and their patients: doctors often don’t seek mental health care because they fear the impact on their careers.
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$1.5 Billion in Miscommunication: Medmal Data Report Finds Opportunities
Communication errors in medmal cases are expensive and becoming more frequent among patients and providers. A new data report from Candello in the Harvard medical community looks at the increasing role played by communication failures, and how more complicated care in the outpatient setting means...
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Case Dismissed! Every Medical Defendant’s Dream Still Holds Some Nightmares
If a clinician is sued for medical malpractice and the case never goes to trial, they dodged a bullet right? A physician defendant shares what it was like to be sued, and going through all the ups and downs of defending himself against charges of negligence before the unexpected happened. His...
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Expert: Communication Is Top Fix for Prostate Care Allegations
For primary care clinicians, a top risk area is related to allegations of delayed diagnosis of cancer. Data in the Harvard system show that the top three cancers in primary care litigation are prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Harvard’s Marc Garnick, MD is a national expert on prostate cancer…
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How Depositions Make or Break a Medmal Defense
A discussion with two legal experts in the Harvard system about why depositions are critical in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Attorneys Lisa Wichter and Alex Terry use their courtroom experience to explain how affect, demeanor, and preparation can change case outcomes.
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New Medmal Report: Documentation Matters a Lot
In a review of Candello’s database of claims from malpractice insurers across the country, documentation failures emerged in one out of every five medical professional liability cases. They are also much more likely to close with a payment with higher than average dollar amounts.
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Paying for Patient Safety: Solving an ROI Puzzle
Investing in patient safety programs not only helps patients, but also prevents large payouts for hospitals. And we can measure it.
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Teleradiology Leads Virtual Care Risk in New Study
Researchers looking for malpractice risks with virtual visits were surprised to learn that teleradiology was leading the way in professional liability claims over the past 12 years. Virtual office visits didn’t show up in the malpractice claims data, but costs and severity associated with...
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New Study Finds Outpatient Adverse Events Common, Often Preventable
Some top-line conclusions are that outpatient harm was relatively common and often serious, with a call to action for intervention in outpatient errors. Drs. David Levine and David Bates of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School are joined by their co-author and CRICO Chief…
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Taking the Pulse of a Clinician’s Interpersonal Skills
Several Harvard-affiliated medical institutions are piloting a program to provide personalized feedback to physicians about the effect of their behavior and interactions on others. More than 675 individuals have gone through the Rapid Pulse 360 evaluations as of Spring 2024. Can it have an impact...
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Bringing AI Into Medicine and Keeping It Safe
As artificial intelligence, or AI, takes off in the public sphere, what about medicine? The health care industry has been using some form of AI for decades, yet very recent advancements are upping the ante. This episode of Safety Net presents excerpts from a recent talk to malpractice attorneys…
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A Net to Catch Patients at Risk of Falling Through the Cracks
The Harvard teaching hospitals and their affiliated institutions have banded together to tackle one of the most difficult and deadly challenges that face all health care providers: clinical tests and specialty referrals that are lost to follow-up. Anecdotal evidence already shows patients who…
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Alert on Surgical Items Left Behind in Patients
In late 2023, the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization issued an advisory noting a spike in reports of retained surgical items. A retained surgical item is patient safety lingo for when the surgical team leaves something like a sponge or a tool inside the patient after surgery.…
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Higher Malpractice Risk with Advanced Practice Providers? Data Say Not Really
The topline data from Candello claims analysis do not show an increase in malpractice corresponding to the increased use of APPs. In fact, the claims rate may be declining, adjusting for practice population increases.
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When a Doctor is Sued: Former Defendant Finds Her Voice
A former doctor defendant found meaning after the ordeal despite her lack of preparation or role models. Dr. Gita Pensa, an emergency medicine physician, made it her professional focus to help other physicians through to the other side of the litigation journey.
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Boarding Critical Care Patients in EDs: New Guidance from Patient Safety Experts
The boarding of critical care patients in the emergency department is an increasing concern because ICUs are often also too full to take them.
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An Alert on Cyber Risk for Health Providers: No One is Safe
Healthcare providers are facing new threats from online attacks that require new strategies to limit liability, harm to patients, and revenue loss. In spring of 2023, the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization (AMC PSO), issued an updated Patient Safety Alert: Cyber Security and...
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Medical Error’s Stubborn Threat to Hospital Patients
A new study that looks at when, where, and how medical errors occur in the in-patient setting is shining a bright light on threats to patient safety and quality in health care. A topline result of a 25 percent error rate for hospital admissions is getting a lot of attention. Lead author David…
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When the Patient’s Home is the Hospital
Admitting patients to their own homes for hospital care: many factors are coming together to make the “Home Hospital” a hot topic in health care delivery. A roomful of defense attorneys in Boston recently heard about the risks and benefits from the MGB leader in charge of the largest such program...
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Copy and Paste in the Medical Record: A Top EHR Danger
When it comes to medical notes in patient charts, copying and pasting carries risks of confusion, patient harm, and liability for providers.
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Getting SMART About Harassment
Recent data from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine show that sexual harassment and gender discrimination affect up to 50 percent of women medical students and more than 50 percent of women faculty in medicine. It affects men too.
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New Guidance on Preventing Lost Medical Specimens
It is estimated that thousands of medical specimens are lost each month. The impact on the diagnostic process when a specimen is lost is of particular concern. In early 2022, a patient safety document was published by the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization (AMC PSO), to describe...
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Making Sure Patients Don’t Catch Fire During Surgery
Hundreds of patients are harmed in OR fires every year. Experts in patient safety want hospitals and providers to focus more on lowering the potential for fire during surgery.
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Simulation’s Evolving Place in Health Care
The use of simulation in health care has grown worldwide. This year and through 2028, industry business analysts expect double digit growth in a $2 billion market for simulation services, software, and anatomical models. We interview pioneers and leading edge practitioners of the art.
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When Virtual Isn’t Good Enough, And Patients Refuse to Come In
Find out how to respond when patients decline recommendations around virtual care. The AMC PSO patient safety alert, called Informed Patient Refusal in Virtual Care, includes a review of likely malpractice allegations and contributing factors. Safety Net interviews one of the co-authors, Dr....
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Nurses Accountable in Diagnosis-relatedMalpractice Claims
A new study shines light on nursing’s role in malpractice claims and preventing diagnostic error. In 62 percent of the cases that involved a communication problem among providers, the patient died.
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Fighting Discrimination in the Health Profession at Harvard
Micro-aggressions. Sexual harassment. Discrimination. On this episode of Safety Net, a special roundtable of health care experts looks at the legal and ethical dynamics behind conflicts over discrimination and harassment among colleagues and staff. What’s happening in the Harvard medical system…
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Malpractice Data Tell a Story… So Do the People Who Use Them
Each year, thousands of misdiagnosed cancers, technical errors in surgery, and other harm events are added to a national database of medical malpractice claims, and a benchmarking report is released to the public. This year, instead of only describing the significance of the trends and numbers…
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Hospitalists Face Worsening Malpractice Climate
Dr. Adam Schaffer, a hospitalist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Senior Clinical Analytics Specialist at CRICO is lead author of a study on the topic published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine in June 2021.
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Harvard Hospitals Turn to Trusted Friend to Find Vulnerabilities
Understanding its own risks and patient care vulnerabilities is vital to a health organization, but gaining that understanding is hard. Hospital leaders in the Harvard system are enthusiastic about outside risk assessments from CRICO, because the recommendations that come out are tangible, with…
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Back To Court after COVID-19: Uncertainty and a Back Seat for Malpractice Cases
COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the legal system since the pandemic interrupted normal operations in Spring of 2020. In Massachusetts, trials were suspended, and all non-emergency court business stopped. Long-time medical malpractice defense attorney Richard Riley of Murphy & Riley, PC in...
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New Age of 45 for General Colorectal CA Screening
Lowering the age for asymptomatic colon cancer screening from 50 to 45 suggests some important changes for physician practices. Joining us to talk about this change and more is Dr. Joseph Feuerstein, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and an advisor for...
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Newborn Body Cooling Safety and Efficacy Moves Forward
Making baby cooling safe and available to the infants who need it is moving beyond 2016 recommendations from the AMC PSO, to new advancements. A regional registry of babies considered for therapeutic hypothermia is yielding new insight into how treatment can be delivered more effectively, safely,...
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Lowering the Risk of Moving Patients to a Different Hospital
One of the lesser-known safety risks for hospitals is the transfer of a patient from one facility to another. A new guidance document attempts to make inter-hospital transfers safer.
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Cures Act Opens Clinical Notes to Patients
New federal law gives patients access to almost everything in their medical record, including clinical notes. It allows for a different kind of partnership between patients and providers where they are co-producing the outcome. This may be good for both patient safety and risk management.
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Help For Optimizing Care and Preventing Risk With Virtual Visits
A new guide called Patient Safety Guidance for the Virtual Visit: Managing Risk in a New Care Setting is available free online. It was produced by the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization, and covers a range of issues from the first decision to engage in a virtual visit with a...
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Hospital Fights to Head off Care Disparities During Pandemic
For vulnerable and under-served communities, patient safety and quality care were at added risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, an established team for care equity and diversity knew early on in the pandemic that they had a lot of work to do.
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The Earlier the Better: More MedMal Insurers Offer Real-Time Support After Patient Harm
The goal of these new early resolution and communication programs isn't just transparency, but early and added involvement from the insurer and the health institution. And it almost doesn't matter if there was any negligence. It also doesn't seem to lead to more lawsuits and higher costs.
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Clinicians are Far from Alone During a Lawsuit
The defendant is the single most important witness at trial. In many cases, the outcome of a trial will come down to whether or not the jurors like and trust the defendant. For this reason, defense attorneys and malpractice insurers are offering defendant clinicians more support services to…
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The Pain and Reward of Delivering Palliative Care During COVID
Excellent palliative care is inherently challenging. Over-capacity hospitals and a shortage of palliative specialists that pre-dated the COVID crisis have led to some improvisation and innovation. An expert practitioner from the Metro DC area shares his personal experience and some insights that...
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Word to the Wise: Misuse of Language in Clinical Communication Causes Harm
Misuse of language can have serious clinical consequences. It can also leave patients and families with a bad impression or misunderstandings. We invited two physicians who authored a JAMA Perspective on the topic to explain what worries them and what doesn't, when it comes to the misuse of words...
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COVID-19 Threatens Primary Care
Many health care practices are under financial duress from the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is affecting access to care. Televisits can't do it all. A Massachusetts consortium of public and private entities surveyed nearly 400 practices of various sizes and specialties in late spring and early...
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Is This Case Likely to Close with a Payment?
New research shows a link between the presence of three common factors in malpractice cases and the likelihood they will end up in a payment to the plaintiff. Look out for documentation deficiencies, lack of a protocol or failure to follow one, and patient assessment issues.
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Malpractice Defendants Cool Their Heels During COVID-19
Becoming a defendant in a malpractice lawsuit is often a long-term proposition under ordinary times. During this COVID-19 pandemic, the courts are struggling, and prioritizing: criminal trials first, then civil trials in Massachusetts, where a slow return to trials in September.
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Telemedicine in the COVID-19 Era
Telehealth, or virtual health care is more popular than ever. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen to that. Two national telemedicine leaders share their expertise on the patient safety and risk management issues related to virtual visits, and how has the pandemic affected all of this.
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Health Providers: “What We’re Going Through Now is Not Normal”
COVID-19 has dragged thousands of doctors and nurses into front-line wards across the country to pitch in. What is the impact on these providers now and in the future? And does all of this have implications for patient safety?
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Safety Net have?
Safety Net currently has 89 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Safety Net about?
The latest thinking from clinical and patient safety leaders from Harvard and around the world. A steady stream of interviews, news updates, legal guidance, effective practices, event highlights, and more.
How often does Safety Net release new episodes?
Safety Net has 89 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Safety Net?
You can listen to Safety Net on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Safety Net?
Safety Net is created and hosted by CRICO.
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