Patient safety at hospitals across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is the key component of a two-year agreement between Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), on behalf of Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality in Baltimore, Md., USA, and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA). The contract was signed on Jan. 26, 2012, by Mohamed Hamad Al Hameli, SEHA’s chief, support services, and Steven J. Thompson, chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

“We value our collaboration with SEHA and are privileged to be charged with the important task of assisting SEHA in this vital area,” says Thompson. “Patient safety is truly a global issue. We have developed a comprehensive quality improvement program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital to make our hospital a safer, more effective and more satisfying place for our patients, and we are honored to have the opportunity to share this expertise with our colleagues in the UAE.”

A team of experts, led by Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for patient safety and quality and director of the Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute, will train local doctors and other health care providers to help eliminate bloodstream infections associated with intravenous lines, to enhance patient safety culture and to assist with the development of a virtual learning community. According to the terms of the agreement, Johns Hopkins will also assist with the expansion of SEHA programs aimed at eliminating ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), surgical site infections (SSI), venous thromboembolism (VTE) and other hospital-acquired infections.

“Like Johns Hopkins, SEHA is clearly committed to improving patient safety and advancing the science of how to do so,” says Pronovost. “We are delighted to partner with our colleagues in the Middle East to help reduce preventable patient harm.”

Pronovost is internationally known for the development of a five-step checklist that, coupled with a program of culture-change in Intensive Care Units, can dramatically reduce the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections. This program — now in place across the United States, in Puerto Rico, Spain and the United Kingdom — is believed to have saved thousands of lives and millions of health care dollars. Pronovost serves in an advisory capacity to the World Health Organizations’ World Alliance for Patient Safety. The World Health Organization has recently established its first office dedicated to advancing patient safety at Johns Hopkins. It is the only university-based office of the World Health Organization.

This is the first international program since the inception of the Armstrong Institute in 2011. The Armstrong Institute is the brainchild of C. Michael Armstrong, former chairman of the board of Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Armstrong Institute is designed to rigorously apply scientific principles to the study of safety for the benefit of all patients, not just those at Johns Hopkins. The focus of its work is on eliminating preventable harm for patients, improving clinical outcomes, ensuring clinical excellence, reducing costs of care, and creating a culture that values patient-centered care, collaboration, accountability and organizational learning.

“When patients entrust us with their health care, they have a right to expect quality care delivered in a safe and effective manner,” says H.E. Saif Bader Al Qubaisi, managing director and chairman of SEHA. “Our vision is to be recognized as a world-class health care provider, and that requires us to continually improve our standards. Accordingly, we welcome the expertise of Johns Hopkins for the benefits of all our customers and communities served.”

Johns Hopkins experts will work closely with UAE clinicians, nurses, hospital managers and administrators to develop local models of the Johns Hopkins Event Analysis Teams, also known as HEAT. The approach has proved highly effective in the United States in reducing the number of hospital-related harmful incidents.

About Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of the Johns Hopkins Health System. The mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, Johns Hopkins Medicine has provided international leadership in the education of physicians and medical scientists in biomedical research and in the application of medical knowledge to sustain health since The Johns Hopkins Hospital opened in 1889.

About Johns Hopkins Medicine International
Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) facilitates the global expansion of the Johns Hopkins Medicine mission: to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. JHI provides personalized, culturally appropriate care for patients traveling from outside Maryland and the United States, and for local patients with limited English proficiency. JHI also leverages Hopkins’ extensive knowledge base in medicine, nursing, public health, business and health care administration to provide services in hospital management, health care consulting and clinical education through strategic alliances and affiliations throughout the world.

About SEHA
About the SEHA HealthSystem and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA)SEHA is health in Arabic. The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC– whose marketing identity is SEHA – is an independent, public joint stock company created to develop the curative activities of the public healthcare system in Abu Dhabi. The company owns and operates all the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi which together make up the SEHA HealthSystem. SEHA is committed to continuous improvement of customer care to recognized international standards and providing our customers and communities served world class healthcare. SEHA has partnered with internationally recognized hospital managers to achieve these goals. These include Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, VAMED, Medical University of Vienna, and Fresenius Medical Care. SEHA owns and operates 12 hospitals with 2,644 beds, 62 ambulatory care, family care and urgent care centers and 2 blood banks. SEHA is one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in the Middle East with more than 17,000 doctors, nurses, ancillary care and administrative personnel in its employ. Visit our website at www.seha.ae. For further information, please contact Salama Al Mazrouei, Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications at [email protected].

About Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins Medicine unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of the Johns Hopkins Health System. The mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, Johns Hopkins Medicine has provided international leadership in the education of physicians and medical scientists in biomedical research and in the application of medical knowledge to sustain health since The Johns Hopkins Hospital opened in 1889.

About Johns Hopkins Medicine International

Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) facilitates the global expansion of the Johns Hopkins Medicine mission: to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. JHI provides personalized, culturally appropriate care for patients traveling from outside Maryland and the United States, and for local patients with limited English proficiency. JHI also leverages Hopkins’ extensive knowledge base in medicine, nursing, public health, business and health care administration to provide services in hospital management, health care consulting and clinical education through strategic alliances and affiliations throughout the world.

About SEHA

About the SEHA HealthSystem and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA)

SEHA is health in Arabic. The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC– whose marketing identity is SEHA – is an independent, public joint stock company created to develop the curative activities of the public healthcare system in Abu Dhabi. The company owns and operates all the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi which together make up the SEHA HealthSystem. SEHA is committed to continuous improvement of customer care to recognized international standards and providing our customers and communities served world class healthcare. SEHA has partnered with internationally recognized hospital managers to achieve these goals. These include Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, VAMED, Medical University of Vienna, and Fresenius Medical Care. SEHA owns and operates 12 hospitals with 2,644 beds, 62 ambulatory care, family care and urgent care centers and 2 blood banks. SEHA is one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in the Middle East with more than 17,000 doctors, nurses, ancillary care and administrative personnel in its employ. Visit our website at www.seha.ae. For further information, please contact Salama Al Mazrouei, Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications at [email protected]