John Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, has named Dr. Peter Pronovost to lead its recently established Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
A well-known patient safety expert and anesthesiologist, Pronovost directs the Johns Hopkins Quality and Safety Research Group and also serves as medical director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care. Both groups will become part of the Armstrong Institute, according to a Johns Hopkins news release.
Pronovost led a highly successful initiative to lower rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive-care units using a set of simplified interventions. The program—which used a short checklist and changes to ICU culture—significantly reduced rates of such infections at Johns Hopkins and in ICUs across the state of Michigan. The initiative is now being rolled out nationally.
“Peter has been a tireless advocate for the development of innovative, field-tested and practical patient-safety tools,” said Edward Miller, dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, in the release. “His design of clinical-care practices is saving the lives of countless patients who might otherwise have been lost to human error and infection.”
Pronovost said he plans to expand the use of checklists while focusing on other areas of preventable patient harm.
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