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Ideas and Opinions |17 July 2012

Science-Based Training in Patient Safety and Quality

Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD; Myron L. Weisfeldt, MD

Article, Author, and Disclosure Information
Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
  • From Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

    Acknowledgment: The authors thank Christine G. Holzmueller, BLA, for her assistance in editing the manuscript.

    Potential Conflicts of Interest: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M11-2717.

    Requests for Single Reprints: Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, 1909 Thames Street, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21231; e-mail, ppronovo@jhmi.edu.

    Current Author Addresses: Dr. Pronovost: 1909 Thames Street, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21231.

    Dr. Weisfeldt: 1830 East Monument Street, Suite 9026, Baltimore, MD 21287.

    Author Contributions: Conception and design: P.J. Pronovost, M.L. Weisfeldt.

    Drafting of the article: P.J. Pronovost, M.L. Weisfeldt.

    Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: P.J. Pronovost, M.L. Weisfeldt.

    Final approval of the article: P.J. Pronovost, M.L. Weisfeldt.

    Administrative, technical, or logistic support: P.J. Pronovost.

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The American public has benefited tremendously from its investments in biomedical research. The increase in life expectancy is a testament to this benefit (1). Patients with AIDS grow old; most children with cancer survive; patients undergoing dialysis receive kidney transplants; patients with orthopedic conditions have hip replacement and can play tennis again; patients with lung cancer receive chemotherapy targeted to their unique genes; and patients with heart failure live longer, more active lives with carefully titrated drug therapies.
Consider the Marfan syndrome. This genetic disease dilates the aorta until it ruptures. Twenty years ago, we lacked methods to diagnose and treat this condition, and patients uniformly died before their 30th birthday, often leaving a young family behind. Now, we can diagnose and treat this syndrome. Patients are screened for the disease, imaging studies allow physicians to monitor the size of the aorta, new drugs slow aortic dilatation, and once-fatal aortic replacement surgery is now successfully performed (2, 3).
Another example is chronic myelogenous leukemia. Ten years ago, this diagnosis was a death sentence—now, it is a chronic disease controlled by popping a pill.
These advances were not accidental. They happened because the U.S. government invested wisely in training researchers and funding specific research projects. Both types of investments are essential. In the early 1990s, the United States realized that basic researchers produced various promising therapies that were not being studied in patients because there were few skilled researchers to rigorously conduct the clinical research.
Congress responded by providing...
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Pronovost PJ, Weisfeldt ML. Science-Based Training in Patient Safety and Quality. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157:141–143. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-157-2-201207170-00457

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(2):141-143.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-157-2-201207170-00457

6 Citations

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