Maryland Patient Safety Center

Emergency Department Safety

The Maryland Patient Safety Center (MPSC) knows that Emergency Departments are working tirelessly on ED wait times and throughput issues. MPSC offers tools to help reduce harms that are occurring as a result of overcrowding and boarding, which can negative effects on patient care, mortality, morbidity, patient satisfaction, and quality of care. The physical and moral harm experienced by ED staff is also substantial. 

Join MPSC throughout the year for virtual webinars, patient safety tools courses, confidential and protected roundtable discussions for shared and experiential learning, and safety reviews tailored for high priority adverse events in the Emergency Department.

ED Safety  Series

This series of easy-to-consume virtual webinars will highlight emerging patient safety trends and issues of critical need in the Emergency Department.  The webinars will identify innovative strategies and implementation techniques to support ED teams in meeting their quality and safety goals and harm reduction.

Safety Series webinars are held from 12:00 – 1:00 pm EST and are FREE for MPSC Members. Registration fee for Non-members is $45.

Safe Tables

Safe Tables are a shared learning forum for peers to exchange patient safety experiences, discuss best practices, network and learn from each other in an open, uninhibited and legally protected environment.

Safe Tables are open and FREE to MPSC members only and are held in-person from 1:00 – 3:00pm EST.

Patient Safety Tools

Many healthcare professionals, particularly quality and safety leaders, use a variety of patient safety tools and techniques daily to ensure the delivery of highly-reliable care; but these tools also offer implementable, effective, and practical applications for front-line healthcare workers to improve patient safety systems and processes.

Patient Safety Tools courses are held virtually from 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST and are FREE to MPSC Members. Registration fee for Non-members is $79.

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Handoffs are a common source of errors in the ED through miscommunication due to distractions, unclear plans, or different treatment perspectives. This is exacerbated by ED overcrowding, throughput issues, and boarding. This one-hour webinar will present structured handoff tools allowing for improved communication with clear expectations for both parties, and providing an effective two-way exchange of information.

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In 2024, ECRI identified the transition of new-to-practice clinicians as the #1 patient safety concern, highlighting the importance of structured support during this vulnerable period. As clinical educators, preceptors, and leaders, you are in a key position to guide new clinicians in building strong communication skills that promote safety, teamwork, and high-quality care from day one.

This 90-minute virtual workshop is designed for those who are training, orienting, and mentoring new clinicians as they enter the workforce. Participants will explore communication strategies from the TeamSTEPPS framework and learn how to effectively model and reinforce these tools in fast-paced, high-acuity settings.

Through interactive discussion and practical application, this session will equip you with tools to better support safe transitions to practice—and ultimately improve outcomes for patients and care teams alike.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Explain why the transition to practice is a high-risk period for patient safety and the implications of ECRI’s 2024 report.
  2. Identify core TeamSTEPPS communication tools (e.g., SBAR, Check-Back, CUS) that support safe clinical practice.
  3. Apply coaching techniques to help new clinicians develop and use structured communication strategies.
  4. Demonstrate how to model psychological safety and speaking-up behaviors.
  5. Evaluate current onboarding practices to identify opportunities for improvement in communication training.

Speakers

  • Ishrat Rafi, MD, Patient Safety Quality Director, QA GYN and MSQA Director, Ascension St. Agnes Hospital
  • Adriane Burgess PhD, RNC-OB, CPHQ, C-ONQS, Senior Director of Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality, Maryland Patient Safety Center
  • Jacqueline Hartford PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, CPPS, Program Manager, Maryland Patient Safety Center
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Although errors were often multifactorial, most diagnostic errors involve failures of clinical decision-making or judgment, regardless of the underlying disease present. Key process failures most often occur in errors in diagnostic assessment, test ordering, and test interpretation. These errors, as with others, are exacerbated by ED wait times, throughput issues, and boarding. During this one-hour webinar, scalable solutions to enhance diagnostic processes will be discussed, targeting the most commonly misdiagnosed clinical presentations to the ED with the potential to cause serious harm.

Download 2024/2025 list of Patient Safety in the Emergency Department courses

MPSC operates a listserv for healthcare professionals with an interest in Emergency Department safety. The listserv offers a network for shared and experiential learning and is used by MPSC to share upcoming events and information specific to safety in this specialty. MPSC members may use the listserv to pose questions to the group in order to garner feedback, solutions, and gain consensus on topics related to quality and safety in the ED. Please contact mpsc@marylandpatientsafety.org to be enrolled.

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