North American Partners in Anesthesia recognized as a 2022 Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award recipient by the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission for National Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality
(MELVILLE, NY, January 24, 2023) – North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) has been recognized with the prestigious John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for 2022 in the National Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality category.
Presented annually since 2002 by The Joint Commission (TJC), the nation’s largest healthcare accreditor, and the National Quality Forum (NQF), the nation’s resource for healthcare quality measurement and improvement, the Eisenberg Awards honor the late John M. Eisenberg, MD, MBA, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Dr. Eisenberg chaired the federal government’s Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force and personally led AHRQ’s grant program to support patient safety research. He was a founding member of NQF’s board of directors and an impassioned advocate for healthcare quality improvement.
NAPA earned the National Level Innovation Award in Patient Safety and Quality for its Anesthesia Risk Alerts (ARA) Program, which provides anesthesia clinicians with novel mitigation strategies to better manage five high-risk clinical scenarios: known or suspected difficult airway, a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 45, pulmonary hypertension, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status 4 or 5, and operating room (OR) fire risk. Each patient is assessed by the anesthesia clinician, and if a risk is identified, the specific mitigation strategy for that scenario is advised to prevent harm.
The ARA program is built on a proactive “Safety II” approach more commonly associated with aviation, cybersecurity, nuclear energy, military and other industries. In adapting this approach for the OR, clinicians utilize innovative techniques based on the dual process decision-making model, cognitive debiasing, red team/blue team methodology, and collaboration with colleagues. Within two years of implementing the ARA program in March 2019 across NAPA’s partner healthcare facilities nationwide, the Anesthesia Risk Alerts program exceeded a 95% compliance rate and significantly reduced the incidence of clinical adverse events. Additionally, by encouraging clinicians to work together in implementing mitigation strategies, ARA was found to promote a perioperative culture of safety and collaborative workplace environments in and beyond the OR.
NAPA’s ARA program was developed through its NAPA Anesthesia Patient Safety Institute (NAPSI), one of only 99 national Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) listed by AHRQ. NAPSI collects clinical outcomes data on every patient cared for by NAPA’s approximately 6,000 anesthesia clinicians at hundreds of hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and offices, representing millions of patients each year, and analyzes this data to develop patient safety and quality initiatives such as the Anesthesia Risk Alerts program.
John F. Di Capua, MD, CEO of North American Partners in Anesthesia, said: “NAPA is honored to receive the Eisenberg Award for our evidence-based Anesthesia Risk Alerts program. The Eisenberg Award is the nation’s highest honor for healthcare quality, and we are gratified that our deep dedication to improving the patient experience, which drives our investments in NAPSI, quality improvement, technology, research, and clinical education, has produced a patient safety initiative that we hope all anesthesia and other healthcare providers can learn from to improve patient care. We also congratulate Dr. Jason S. Adelman, recipient of the Individual Achievement Award, and Parkland Health, recipient of the Local Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality Award. NAPA is proud to be recognized with these esteemed co-Awardees for 2022.”
The Eisenberg Awards honor major individual, local, and national achievements that improve patient safety and healthcare quality by bringing together the quality community to recognize groundbreaking initiatives in healthcare that are consistent with the aims of the National Quality Strategy: better care, healthy people and communities, and smarter spending. The three awardees will be recognized at NQF23, NQF’s annual conference hosted in Washington, D.C., on February 21, 2023.
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About North American Partners in Anesthesia
As a clinician-led organization, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is redefining healthcare, delivering unsurpassed excellence to its partners and patients every day. NAPA has grown to become the nation’s leading single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company. Our 6,000+ clinicians serve nearly 3 million patients annually at nearly 500 healthcare facilities in 21 states. NAPAanesthesia.com.
