Record Attendance Anticipated for 2016 Virginia Patient Safety Summit

February 2, 2016

The 5th Annual Event Feb. 4-5 in Richmond Brings Together Hospital Leaders, Health Care Stakeholders
Focused on Health Care Quality, Positive Patient Outcomes

RICHMOND, VA – A sizable group of providers, clinicians, and others in the health care community are expected in Richmond this week for a two-day event focused on patient quality and safety. More than 500 attendees have registered for the 5th Annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit, scheduled for Feb. 4-5, 2016, putting it in position to be the best-attended event in the five-year history of the program. This year’s event features an array of exceptional health care leaders and advocates. Scheduled feature speakers include Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton; Virginia Health and Human Resources Secretary William A. Hazel Jr., M.D.; noted television actress and survivor advocate Alicia Cole; and a recorded message from U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia. More than one dozen other esteemed speakers and accomplished medical professionals are scheduled to keynote learning sessions during the summit. The event is jointly sponsored by VHHA’s Virginia Hospital Research & Education Foundation, VHHA’s Center for Healthcare Excellence, the Medical Society of Virginia, and Inova Health System.

The Patient Safety Summit traces its roots to 2011 when VHHA pursued legislation to recognize “Virginia Patient Safety Day” to raise awareness of voluntary quality and safety initiatives implemented by Virginia hospitals. That year, the Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing Feb. 2 as “Virginia Patient Safety Day,” and as an opportunity to recognize the 100,000-plus health care workers in Virginia’s hospitals and health systems, and their accomplishments in improving health care quality and delivering positive patient outcomes. Since then, VHHA has been a proud organizational sponsor of this annual gathering of health care leaders and professionals from across the Commonwealth. The summit represents an opportunity to showcase the important work performed by health care providers to enhance patient outcomes. As it coincides with the annual General Assembly session in Richmond, the summit also gives health care stakeholders in town for the event a chance to visit their district legislators and encourage them to support prudent health care policy proposals.

Another noteworthy aspect of the two-day Patient Safety Summit is a poster session. For the first time this year, six poster session winners will be selected in two categories – by the Patient Safety Summit Poster Abstract Committee comprised of Virginia hospital quality and patient safety leaders, and separately by summit attendees. Ahead of the summit, 116 poster abstracts from more than 30 Virginia organizations were submitted for consideration. The committee selected 44 poster abstracts for display at the summit. Three winners will be selected in each category and recognized for their diligent work to advance quality and patient safety.

VHHA and its members are committed to making Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by 2020. The Commonwealth has experienced many successes on that journey as demonstrated by improvement in several population health metrics. There is room for improvement in other areas. On quality and patient safety, Virginia and its hospitals continue to earn high marks. For instance, Hospital Safety Score recently rated Virginia one of the top states in the nation on patient safety metrics, and a recent survey Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) noted a significant rise in Virginia hospitals’ patient satisfaction scores of late.

The 5th Annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit is made possible by the generosity of several key sponsors. Diamond Sponsors include: Dominion Resources Inc., Medtronic, Riverside Health System, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, and VHHA Shared Services. Platinum Sponsors include: Ateb Inc., Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Centra Health, Donate Life Virginia, Inova Health System, Masimo, the Medical Society of Virginia, Stryker, the Virginia Center for Health Innovation, Virginia Health Information, and Xenex Disinfection Services.

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 107 hospitals and 30 health delivery systems that develops and advocates for sound health care policy in the Commonwealth. Its vision is to achieve excellence in both health care and health.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Julian Walker
Vice President of Communications
(804) 297-3193 office
(804) 304-7402 mobile
jtwalker@vhha.com