The Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program aims to improve the culture of safety while providing frontline caregivers with the tools and support that they need to identify and tackle the hazards that threaten their patients at the unit or clinic level.

Developed by Johns Hopkins safety and quality researchers, the five-step program has been used to target a wide range of hazards, including patient falls, hospital-acquired infections, medication administration errors, specimen labeling errors and teamwork and communication breakdowns. Notably, CUSP has been used in national and international quality improvement projects that have drastically reduced hospital-acquired infections. One such project, called On the CUSP: Stop BSI, reduced central line-associated bloodstream infections in 44 U.S. states by 40 percent while saving an estimated 500 lives.

Whether your hospital has participated in such projects or is seeking to adopt CUSP, the Armstrong Institute provides resources to help you run a successful program.

Resources

We have assembled the following to help you learn more about CUSP.

CUSP Toolkit

Take advantage of revised and updated tools, now in an editable, savable PDF format

• CUSP Phaseline
• CUSP Roles and Responsibilities
• Board Checklist
• Case Summary
• Conducting a Morning Briefing
• Culture Assessment: A Guide for CUSP Coordinators
• Culture Check-up Process
• Daily Goals Checklist
• Executive/Senior Leader Checklist
• Learning from Defects
• Observing Patient Care Rounds
• Physician Contact Information
• Pre-Kickoff Meeting Checklist
• Premortem Tool
• Safety Issues Worksheet for Senior Executive Partnership
• Science of Safety Training Attendance Sheet
• Shadowing Another Professional
• Staff Safety Assessment
• Staff Safety Assessment Results
• Status of Safety Issues
• Who's on Your CUSP Team?

CUSP Guides

• Start Stop Continue
• Communication Plan
• CUSP Team Norms
• CUSP Adaptive Work
• Monthly Meeting Agenda Template
• Spreading the Science of Safety

CUSP Coaching Sessions

Institute experts have led several interactive coaching sessions on topics related to implementing, sustaining and spreading CUSP. Requires free Microsoft Silverlight download.

• "CUSP: How Do You Know if You're Ready?" — learn about critical factors—such as workplace culture and staff engagement—that should be in place for a successful CUSP launch. (Jan 2013)
• "The CUSP Phaseline: Navigating the Road to Becoming an Independent CUSP Team" — focusing on a step-by-step checklist for starting, launching and sustaining a successful CUSP unit. (Feb. 2013)
• "Culture Matters: Measuring and Improving Patient Safety" (March 2013)
• "Identifying and Building the CUSP Team" (April 2013)

Introductory Video

• “Understanding CUSP and the CUSP Team” — Learn about the program's five steps and who should be on your team.

Questions?

Please e-mail us.