Hard to believe it has been exactly one year since I was able to spend a few days on a very enjoyable trip for the Emily Jerry Foundation to La Rochelle France ??! I had a chance to spend one full day with a new EJF medication safety technology partner, Eurekam. We had very productive meetings and presentations at their offices and then I had the great privilege of visiting the Hospital Center “Saint-Louis” De La Rochelle to see one of their very first clinical implementations of their Drugcam system for the sterile IV compounding of oncology preparations. Afterwards, we all shared an amazing dinner together. I must say, La Rochelle is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited in France!! I would absolutely love the opportunity to come back next time for an actual vacation here ?!
I have always been a big fan of TED talks, so when my friend Michael Kasey said he was organizing an independent TEDx talk in Chagrin Falls, about 6 months ago, and wanted to know if I would be interested in speaking about “the power of forgiveness,” of course I said yes!! So we spent the entire morning today, as well as, the first part of the afternoon, filming with a camera crew from NYC, at the Chagrin Valley Little Theater. Everything went really well. Hopefully, we will get everything back from editing in about a month, or so. All of the speakers were absolutely amazing and Michael did a great job producing and hosting his first TEDx event!!
This past week was very productive for the Emily Jerry Foundation! I was given the great privilege of being invited to Texas Children’s Hospital to give five CE & CME accredited presentations. All five talks were related to patient & medication safety, preventable medical error, and stopping tragedies BEFORE they happen, by focusing on the “inherent human error component of medicine,” and the modification of core systems, processes, and protocols in healthcare. I was extremely impressed with both the frontline clinician/caregiver team, as well as, the executive leadership at TCH, who all appeared to be clearly focused on putting patient safety first at their world renowned facility! Bottom line, Texas Children’s Hospital is truly an amazing place, providing exceptional care to what I feel is our nation’s most valuable asset, our babies and children! ?
I felt honored to be asked to give the keynote, this past week, for the 2nd Annual Baxter Medication Delivery User Group Meeting, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Baxter has been a committed medication safety partner of the Emily Jerry Foundation for many years!
Even though I am still recovering from that horrible accident I was in on February 22nd, where I was literally hit by a Mack truck, it feels really good to be just starting to get back to doing the work that I am so passionate about with the Emily Jerry Foundation! This week I felt very privileged to be invited to speak at the University of Rochester Medical Center. I have already given two CE accredited lectures on patient and medication safety to the entire pharmacy staff. Today, I will be finishing up my visit to URMC by giving a special hospital-wide Grand Safety Rounds lecture to all of these amazing clinician/caregivers, who share my exact same passion for saving lives from preventable medical error!
Really looking forward to speaking tomorrow morning at WellStar Health System’s 2019 Spring Medical Staff Leadership Retreat. The new Omni Hotel at the Battery in Atlanta, where I’ll be speaking to the clinical leadership from WellStar Health Systems, is absolutely incredible! The first two pics were taken from the hallway window right outside my room, as I was leaving for dinner. Really looking forward to possibly going to a game here tomorrow evening!
This past week, marked my first trip since being broadsided by a Mack truck that ran a red light on February 22nd. It felt absolutely amazing to get back to doing the work I am truly passionate about with the Emily Jerry Foundation…trying to help stop tragedies before they happen and ultimately saving lives from preventable medical error!
I had the privilege of being invited to D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York, to give a lecture on patient and medication safety to our future leaders in healthcare. I was also asked to participate in a panel discussion on preventable medical error, following a viewing of a powerful new documentary, called “To Err Is Human”, that was produced and directed by my friend Mike Eisenberg.
To top everything off, I also met, and had a great in-depth conversation, with New York Times, best selling author, Andre Dubus III, who also happened to be at D’Youville College for a lecture and book signing! Bottom line, I’m feeling extremely grateful!
Wrapped up another very productive Annual PSMF World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit, with another Keynote from former President Bill Clinton! The event continues to grow and build great momentum around the cause. I am incredibly excited to see where technology can help take us in regards to eliminating the human error component of medicine. The quest pushes onward!
Yesterday, I received word from the producer that the interview I did with Dr. Mehmet Oz back in November, where we discussed preventable medical error, patient & medication safety, forgiveness, etc., is scheduled to air on January 22nd. It was such a great honor to meet Dr. Oz, let alone make an appearance on the show in order to spread the word about our very important cause. From time to time, these scheduled air dates can change. If I hear anything differently I will definitely try and let everyone know. ~Chris
The Emily Jerry Foundation is determined to help make our nation’s, world renowned, medical facilities safer for everyone, beginning with our babies and children. We are accomplishing this very important objective by focusing on increasing public awareness of key patient safety related issues and identifying technology and best practices that are proven to minimize the “human error” component of medicine. Through our ongoing efforts The Emily Jerry Foundation is working hard to save lives every day.
Last Updated: October 30, 2019 by Nick Pietravoia
Meeting at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, California
My meeting at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County yesterday went extremely well! Unfortunately, due to weather, I didn’t get home until 3:00am this morning! Next week is another busy week. I’ll be heading to Washington D.C., for more meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss medication safety related legislation and preventable medical errors. In addition, while I’m there, I will also be attending and participating in IV automation coalition meetings with the FDA in Silver Springs, Maryland.