title: Patient Safety Leadership WalkRounds at Partners Healthcare: learning from implementation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) began Patient Safety Leadership WalkRounds in January 2001; its experience, along with that of three other Partner Healthcare hospitals, is reported. COLLECTING DATA ON WALKROUNDS: Data were obtained from interviews with patient safety personnel, WalkRounds scribes, and senior leaders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 233 one-hour WalkRounds during 28 months yielded 1,433 comments--30% related to equipment, 13% to communications, 7% to pharmacy, and 6% to workforce. Actions occurred quickly in small hospitals. Formal processes for managing larger issues were necessary in large organizations. Implementation feasibility featured more prominently than severity in determining actions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study generated essential guidelines for success--for example, the supporting resources must include the maintenance of effective information databases that identify actions taken, and the discussions during WalkRounds are influenced by who in leadership is participating, their ability to quietly listen, and whether they have clinical or nonclinical backgrounds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WalkRounds appears to be an effective tool for engaging leadership, identifying safety issues, and supporting a culture of safety.
authors.affiliation: Patient Safety, Partners Healthcare, Boston, USA. Afrankel@Partners.org
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frankel
authors.forename: Sarah Pratt
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Grillo
authors.forename: Erin Graydon
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Camilla Neppl
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abookire
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grenham
authors.forename: Pam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Console
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Quinn
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thibault
authors.forename: Tejal K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Gandhi
mesh_terms: D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007857:Leadership; D008404:Massachusetts; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011786:Quality Control; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*