PACT Launches Leadership and Innovation Network

January 29, 2024

3 min

The Pathway to Accountability, Compassion, and Transparency (PACT) today announced the founding members of the PACT Leadership and Innovation Network. With the goal of accelerating national implementation of Communication and Resolution Programs, this first-of-its-kind network brings together thought leaders, national experts, and organizations committed to improving how health care systems respond to patient harm.

“Patient safety is improving too slowly in the United States. We built the PACT Leadership and Innovation Network to accelerate improvement. Network organizations have the opportunity to support each other in implementing effective Communication and Resolution programs while identifying new ways to capture harm events and avoid future harm,” said Evan Benjamin, MD, MS, Director of Community Innovation at Ariadne Labs.

Led by Ariadne Labs, the Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement at the University of Washington, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, PACT is a learning community committed to improving the way health care organizations respond to and learn from harm events. PACT seeks to ensure that every health care organization has a comprehensive, highly reliable process in place for responding when patients are harmed by their care.

“Patients entrust their lives to health care providers, who in turn do their best to provide healing, compassionate care,” said Melissa Parkerton, Director of PACT. “But despite providers’ best intentions, patients are sometimes harmed by health care. When that occurs, health systems can mitigate further harm through honest and empathic explanations, sincere reconciliation, and reassurance from efforts to prevent future harm to others.”

Network members will attend bi-annual meetings to share ideas and stay abreast of developments in the field. Members will also participate in structured workgroups covering a wide range of topics that will form the best practices of the future. These leading organizations will serve as models and mentors for others who are committed to transforming health care’s response to harm. The network will also be releasing recommendations to help others improve patient safety in alignment with the principles underlying comprehensive harm response.

“The Leadership and Innovation Network provides a forum for health care system leaders advancing their Communication and Resolution Programs to share and learn while also supporting spread and scale of these programs. Participating in the Network enables adaptation for adoption of CRPs,” said Jeffrey Salvon-Harman, MD, CPE, CPPS, Vice President of Safety at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

If your organization has an active Communication and Resolution Program, and you are interested in joining the network, please email us at pact@ariadnelabs.org. For organizations who do not currently have a structured program for patient harm response, stay tuned for more information on the upcoming launch of our Community of Practice, where organizations interested in learning more about Communication and Resolution Programs can exchange information and ideas.

“Responding to patients and families who have been harmed by health care with accountability, transparency, and compassion each and every time harm occurs is a stress test for an organization’s commitment to providing health care that is safe, patient-centered, and equitable. I am so proud of the founding members of the PACT Leadership and Innovation Network for stepping forward and partnering with one another and leading experts to turn this vision into reality,” said Thomas H. Gallagher, MD, MACP, Executive Director, Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement at the University of Washington.

Our 13 Founding Members include: