Patient safety rounds: description of an inexpensive but important strategy to improve the safety culture.

Patient safety rounds (PSRs) were established at the University of Michigan Medical Center to improve patient safety by opening a new line of communication between the chief of staff and frontline caregivers. Patient safety rounds are biweekly, hour long meetings between the chief of staff and care givers on individual patient care units. In the past 4 years (2002 to 2006), 70 PSRs have been conducted, and more than 900 area staff members have participated. Staff attendance averages 8 to 10 unit or area staff members per session. Patient safety rounds have proven to be a concrete, inexpensive mechanism to enhance patient safety. Benefits have been documented in the improvement in the safety culture and development and implementation of preventive strategies to solve patient safety issues. Key components in the success of PSRs are active medical staff leadership and the engagement of physicians and senior management in the process improvements the PSRs have directed.