The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has funded our application to implement an innovative study with leading cardiac surgery centers across the country.

The overarching goal of this three-year project is to improve the safety of patients having cardiac surgery. Participating sites use our validated two-pronged CUSP/TRiP program to achieve this goal. Each hospital will create a project safety team in the cardiac operating room, ICU, and surgical floor. The teams will implement the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP), which provides methods to improve teamwork and learn from mistakes. They will also implement evidence-based interventions to reduce infections.

In a novel focus on the continuum of care, we will help all three teams work together to improve hand-offs between the OR and ICU, the ICU and floor, and the floor to home.
In another novel enhancement to the traditional collaborative model, a number of professional societies are supporting this work.

Please visit our new project portal page to learn more about CSTS.