We’ve committed to a Zero Harm initiative, setting a goal of reducing serous reportable events at Kettering Health 80% by 2025. 

Safety event reporting is fundamental in improving patient safety. An error is almost never the fault of a person, and generally occurs because of system and process issues. A safety event occurs eight to 10 times before serious harm reaches the patient. When you report a safety event, you’re directly contributing to potentially preventing a future incident.

We understand that to encourage reporting, the system needs to be intuitive and easy to use, and we heard your feedback about challenges with the Midas system. In September 2022, we announced the name change to SAFE, and that additional improvements would be coming in 2023.

Some of the main roadblocks for reporting that you shared were the time and effort it took to enter a safety event, and the lack of follow up after an event was reported.

With that in mind, we’ve made several changes to the SAFE system that are now in effect. You are highly encouraged to submit safety events using the new system.

Major changes to SAFE

• Streamlined forms
  • Time: It now takes now an average of five minutes or less to report a safety event.
  • Ease of use and navigation: Endless scrolling has been eliminated and moved to tabs.
  • Standardization: All forms now have consistent language and appearance.
  • Consolidation: Reduced the options on the homepage from 13 to seven.
• Clear next steps
  • Automated thank-you message when an event is submitted.
  • Each event is reviewed by the campus Quality/Safety team. 
  • If the event is considered a Serious Reportable Event (SRE), a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is completed.
  • Non-SRE events are investigated or escalated as appropriate.
  • A process to provide direct feedback to the person who submitted the event about the outcome (as relevant) is in progress.

We want a culture in which employees report early and often. See more information in the Incident/Occurrence and Serious Reportable Event Reporting policy.

Put simply, report anything unanticipated, outside the expected, or anything that is not the standard of care. The SAFE reporting system has been developed with you in mind and will help us increase reporting of safety events, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided across our system.