CPSI announces continued support for patient safety research
Submissions wanted for patient safety research competition
Wednesday September 24, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) is working to increase the scope and scale of patient safety research in Canada with the launch of its 2008 Research Competition.

The main objective for the fourth iteration of the research competition is to develop innovative patient safety projects that are applicable to a number of healthcare settings and organizations across the country.

As in previous research competitions, CPSI is highlighting a number of areas they feel research could generate significant patient safety improvements. These include:

- Identification, prevention or mitigation of adverse events arising from diagnostic error including failure to diagnose

- The design and/or implementation of effective human factors interventions to improve patient safety. Human factors is the study of the interrelationships between humans, the tools they use, the environment in which they live and work, and the design of efficient, human-centered processes to improve reliability and safety

- Evaluation or demonstration of mechanisms for improving patient safety during handoffs and transitions between caregivers, teams, providers or organizations

- Engaging patients and their caregivers to improve patient safety

- Evaluation of outcomes associated with the integration of The Safety Competencies: Enhancing Patient Safety Across the Health Professions

A third-party peer review panel comprised of patient safety researchers and policy makers, will judge and rank proposals based on potential benefit to the healthcare system and scientific viability and feasibility.

Through research competitions in recent years, CPSI project manager Cynthia Woodman says CPSI is constantly developing a higher awareness of the status of patient safety in Canadian healthcare settings resulting in a refinement of the types of new knowledge required to advance patient safety.

“Every year we re-assess that,” Woodman told HIROC News in April. “The more you learn, the more you know what you don’t know. (The competition) enables us to focus some of the research a little bit more every year.”

Research teams will be notified in May 2009 if their projects have been awarded any funding through the research competition. The deadline is Tuesday Dec. 2, 2008.

To request an application form and instructions, e-mail rfa(at)cpsi-icsp.ca.

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