NPSF and ISQua Working to Promote Patient Safety at the International Level

National Patient Safety Foundation and International Society for Quality in Health Care Announce Certification Partnership

Boston, MA (Feb. 7, 2017)—The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, and the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), a global organization with the aim to inspire and drive improvement in the quality and safety of healthcare worldwide, have established an agreement to jointly promote patient safety education and professional certification.

A major focus of the agreement is to enable past and current participants of the ISQua Fellowship Programme to pursue the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) credential. Since 2012, when the certification program began, more than 1,500 health professionals across the US and in 11 countries have achieved professional certification in patient safety.

 

“The CPPS credential was developed to establish core standards for the field of patient safety and set an expected proficiency level,” said Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president and chief executive officer of NPSF and of the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety, which oversees the credential. “Certification is a means by which health professionals can demonstrate their proficiency and skill in this critical discipline. We are very pleased to be working with ISQua to elevate this credential at the international level.”

 

ISQua’s programs reach health professionals in 100 countries across six continents. The ISQua Fellowship Programme educates health professionals in quality and safety innovation and provides a platform for networking with experts and peers. To date, more than 500 individuals from 60 countries have taken part in the Fellowship.

 

“We share with NPSF the belief that the safety domains addressed by the CPPS certification examination represent critical competencies for today’s health care environment,” said Peter Lachman, MD, MPH, MBCh, FRCPCH, FCP (SA), FRCPI, chief executive officer, ISQua. “Giving our Fellows opportunities to study for and pursue a professional credential is a valuable new benefit for them and the organizations in which they work.”

 

Candidates for the CPPS credential must possess a combination of academic and professional experience and must pass a certification examination. Among other benefits, the ISQua-NPSF agreement will offer current and former ISQua Fellows reduced costs for a self-assessment test that can help them gauge their readiness for certification and a discount on the certification examination. Fellows will also be able to participate at a reduced rate in a CPPS Review Course, which NPSF offers to help candidates prepare for the exam by reviewing the domain content areas and test-taking strategies.

 

To learn more about NPSF programs and educational offerings, visit www.npsf.org. To learn more about ISQua, visit www.isqua.org.

 

About the National Patient Safety Foundation
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about the Foundation’s work, visit www.npsf.org and follow @theNPSF on Twitter.

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Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

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Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

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Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

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Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

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Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

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