Excerpts About LifeWings and Steve Harden From Major Media Outlets
From Hospital safety takes page out of Top Gun manual, chicagotribune.com, 2/12/08
"Six months after Provena employed the LifeWings method, miscommunication reports are down 50 percent, Cappelletti reported. LifeWings President Stephen Harden, a former Top Gun flight instructor, co-founded the company in 2005 because, he said, "aviation and medicine both rely on teamwork for efficiency and safety. "Some consider medicine an art, where Dr. A does it this way and Dr. B does it this way. But then the rest of the staff doesn't know what to expect." The LifeWings method is especially helpful, Cappelletti said, when her department has shift changes or when a patient is moved from one area to another, such as from an operating to a recovery room. "Bottom line, we want to reduce errors," she said. "Everyone has been on board with this program because it helps us do that."
From Group Of Top Gun Pilots & Astronauts Improving Hospital Safety in Memphis, ABCNews 24, 6/28/07
Pilots and astronauts can't afford to make a single mistake. Steve Harden is a former Navy Top Gun pilot. He said, “The consequences for mistakes in aviation are very serious, aviation is an unforgiving business, if you make a serious mistake it can cost you your life.” He teamed up with two former astronauts to use the lessons they learned in the air in hospitals right here in the Mid-South. The group teaches doctors and nurses to use precise checklists to reduce or eliminate mistakes. Harden said, “I've never made a take-off without doing a before take-off checklist, and the same concept applies to say a surgical procedure. Is it the right patient? Are you doing the procedure on the right part of the body? Do you have all of the equipment you need? Is it ready to go? Many of our clients have hired us for exactly those kinds of problems. They've either had near misses, or have in fact operated on the wrong part of the body or God forbid, have operated on the wrong patient. That does occasionally happen.” It may sound hard to believe that a simple checklist can prevent such a horrible mistake, but Harden said the training has saved lives in at least one Memphis hospital, “Approximately 200 patients in the past two years have walked out of their hospital that wouldn't have walked out of their hospital without this program.”
From Preventing Medical Mistakes, Medical Breakthroughs, 1/11/08
"Steve Harden, pilot and founder/CEO of the for-profit company, called Lifewings Partners, says the same principles that keep pilots and their passengers safe in the air can be used to prevent mistakes and improve safety in hospitals and other medical facilities. “We’re in it for patient safety,” says Harden, who adds that, to date, more than 70 medical facilities have used their services. LifeWings has a five-step program that involves changing the hospital procedures and communication issues that can lead to mistakes, training physicians and nurses to work better as a team, also setting up checklists for standard operating procedures and measurements to track outcomes. Harden cites a hospital in the Southeastern U.S. that went from having a “wrong surgery” once every 60 days, to a track record that logged more than 600 days without a single such incident. “Health care is more safety and quality conscious than it’s ever been,” Harden says. “As long as health care is growing and more people are using it, the chance for mistakes will continue to increase, unless some fairly fundamental changes are made in how the health care teams work together.”
Previous Speaking Engagements for
Steve Harden, Health Care Speaker
>> Watch a video of one of Steve's presentations.
Upcoming Events: |
Surgical Information Systems Fast Track conference, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, March 16, 2013
Surgical Information Systems National Conference, Atlanta, GA, APRIL 17, 2013
MediServe National Conference, Phoenix, AZ, June 6, 2013
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Completed Events: |
Maimonides Medical Center OB/GYN Retreat, NYC, NY, November 4, 2012
1st Annual Leading Organizational Change Conference, Curacao, November 2, 2012
2nd Annual Ambulatory Surgical conference, Newark NJ, October 26, 2012
FASCA of Tennessee Fall Conference, Memphis, TN September 27, 2012
Surgical Quality Conference, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, NY, September 17, 2012
Collierville Chamber of Commerce Summer Luncheon, Collierville TN, August 8, 2012
MediServe Annual Quality Conference, Phoenix AZ, June 14, 2012
HealthTech’s 2012 Trustee Conference, Santa Fe, NM, April 27, 2012
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Bridgeport Hospital Annual Physician’s Retreat Penfield Pavilion, Fairfield, CT, April 25, 2012
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Tennessee Hospital Association’s Small or Rural Health Care Conference, Franklin, TN, March 22, 2012
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Mayo Clinic Annual Surgical Quality Conference, Rochester MN, March 19, 2012
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Carolinas HealthCare / Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, 2012 Physician Retreat, Charlotte, NC, February 24, 2012
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Health Forum’s Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, Phoenix, AZ, February 5-8, 2012
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St. Peter’s Medical Center, Leadership Workshops, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14-15, 2011
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Tennessee Hospital Association Leadership Conference, Nashville, TN, November 13, 2011
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Medical Center of Plano, Quality Week Workshops, Plano, TX, October 17, 2011
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OR Excellence Conference for Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Keynote Speaker, San Diego, CA, October 6, 2011
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Nevada Nurses Leadership Conference, Keynote Speaker, Reno, NV, October 3, 2011
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Arizona Operating Room Nurses Conference, Keynote Speaker, Flagstaff, AZ, October 1, 2011
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North Westchester Hospital, North Westchester, NY, September 7, 2011 |
Flagstaff Medical Center, Leadership Course, Flagstaff, AZ, August 5-6, 2011 |
Toumey Hospital, Sumter, SC, July 19-20, 2011 |
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Drexel University, Grand Rounds, Philadelphia, PA, June 29, 2011 |
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Quantros Conference, Keynote Speaker, San Francisco, CA, June 24, 2011 |
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Oregon Hospital Association, Salem, Oregon, May 20, 2011
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Kentucky Hospital Association Louisville, KY, March 30, 2011
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ASOS Annual Conference San Diego, CA, March 27, 2011
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CVPH Medical Center - EXPLORE Plattsburgh, NY,March 18, 2011
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North Carolina Healthcare System Leadership Development Institute Charlotte, NC, Feb. 22, 2011
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Clark Memorial Hospital Leadership Retreat Louisville, KY, Feb. 12, 2011
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Advocate Christ Medical Center 34th Annual Perinatal Symposium Oak Lawn, IL November 17, 2010 "Brief to Build, Communicate to Correct”
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Texas Pediatric Society San Antonio, TX, November 6, 2010 "Meeting the Unspoken Expectation of Safety: What Every Clinician Can Learn From the Miracle on the Hudson and the Ditching of Flight 1549"
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Flagstaff Medical Center Flagstaff, AZ, October 28, 2010 "Creating a Culture of Safety: Lessons Learned from High Reliability Organizations"
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Indiana Hospital Association Indianapolis, IN, October 25, 2010 "Was It Really A Miracle? Important Patient Safety Lessons Learned from the Ditching of US Airways Flight 1549"
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Managing Today’s OR Conference Orlando, FL, September 29, 2010 "Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Safety In Perioperative Services"
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Brim Healthcare Nashville, TN, September 13, 2010 "Leadership Secrets Behind the Miracle on the Hudson"
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DFW Healthcare HR Association Las Colinas, TX, August 25, 2010 "Soaring Over the Culture Chasm: Unlocking the leadership secrets needed to implement sustainable culture change" Read evaluations
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AMA Surgical Caucus, Chicago, Ill, June 12, 2010 "On The Cutting Edge of Surgical Patient Safety -- Crew Resource Management"
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Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality Annual Conference Denver, CO
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Mechanism of Perfusion XXV, Orlando, FL, May 20-23, 2010 "Was it Really a Miracle?: Important patient safety lessons learned from the ditching of US Airways flight 1549"
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The Medical Center of Plano, Plano, TX, May 12, 2010 “Soaring Over the Culture Chasm: Eight essential skills every leader must have to create a high performance culture”
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Canadian Operating Room Leadership Network Conference Toronto, Ontario
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The Cheshire Medical Center Medical Education Foundation on behalf of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, Keene, NH, May 4, 2010 "It’s Not About the Checklist: Patient Safety Lessons Learned from the Miracle on the Hudson"
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Michigan Health & Hospital Association 2010 Patient Safety & Quality Symposium, Dearborn, MI
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Symbion – Memphis Region Training, Collierville, TN March 27, 2010 “Briefing to Build, Communicating to Correct: Critical skills for patient safety” |
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Healthcare & Medical: Surgical Error Prevention - Kuala Lumpur
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March of Dimes 2010 Perinatal Nursing Conference Oakbrook, IL
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VNA of Care New England Warwick RI
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IBN International Surgical Error Prevention Workshop Dubai
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IBN International Surgical Error Prevention Workshop Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Managing Today’s OR Suite Conference Las Vegas, NV October 7, 2009 Keynote Speaker
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St. Alexius Medical Center – Leadership Development Hoffman Estates, IL
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Symbion Healthcare – US Regional Meeting Memphis, TN
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Perfusion Safety & Best Practices in Perfusion 2009 New Orleans, LA June 26, 2009
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AST 2009 National Conference Las Vegas, NV
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HIMSS09 Annual Conference & Exhibit, Chicago, IL
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Joint Commissions’ 22nd Annual Conference Chicago, IL
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Albany-Medical Critical Care Nursing Conference Saratoga Springs, NY November 4, 2008
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MTORS: Managing Today’s OR Suite Washington, DC October 31, 2008
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VHA Teamwork and Patient Safety Track Salt Lake City, UT
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Quality Partners of Rhode Island Warwick, RI
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Midwest Region Annual Leadership Conference Memphis, TN
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Joint Commission Surgical Safety Conference Chicago, IL
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Louisiana Hospital Quality Awards Symposium Baton Rouge, LA
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Texas Health Resources System-Wide Risk Management Workshop February, 2008
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BayCare Healthcare System Risk Management Summit Workshop November 28, 2007
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Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System Annual Leadership Retreat, Salinas, CA
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Texas Medical Liability Trust, Houston, TX
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ELSO Conference, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital - Nashville, TN Session: “More than Just ECMO: Promoting a Culture of Safety”
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HANYS Quality Institute, Informational Teleconferences Six Sessions: “Teamwork-Technique: Critical Care Excellence Education Series”
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Memorial Healthcare System Annual Leadership Development Institute Session: “Soaring Over the Safety & Quality Chasm”
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MHA 71st Annual Meeting, Chatham, MA Session: “Improving Communications & Teamwork to Enhance Patient Safety”
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Carolinas Healthcare System Leadership Development Institute Session: “Soaring over the Safety & Quality Chasm”
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UTMB Pediatric Grand Rounds Annual Awards Presentation, Galveston, TX Session: Key Note Speaker: “The Real Right Stuff: Six surprising things about professional excellence I wish someone had told me before I learned them the hard way.”
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American College of Physician Executives, Orlando, FL Session: “Houston, We Have a Problem: Critical Leadership Skills for Achieving Top Performance in Safety and Quality”
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Roper St. Francis Healthcare Leadership Development Institute Charleston, SC Session: “Soaring Over the Safety and Quality Chasm: Implementing Best Practices from Aviation to Create Another Pillar of Excellence”
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Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Leadership Retreat
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Port Access MIVS, STS Annual Conference, San Diego, CA Session: Key Note Speaker: “How to be a Top Gun: Comparative insights between Port Access surgery and the critical environment of a supersonic fighter jet”
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Montana Hospital Association Annual Meeting for Hospital Boards of Directors and Trustees / St. Patrick Hospital & Health Sciences Center Retreat Session: “Creating & Sustaining Governing Board Commitment to a Culture of Improved Quality and Safety in Your Community”
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FASCA of Tennessee 2006 Fall Conference & Trade Show, Memphis, TN Session: “Presentation to the Freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Center Association of Tennessee: Soaring Over the Safety and Quality Chasm”
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MAG Mutual Seminars Session: “Patient Safety Takes Wing: Using Aviation Teamwork and Safety Measures to Improve Patient Outcomes”
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Montana Hospital Association Annual Conference Session: “Aviation’s Best Practices to Improve Patient Safety & Quality Care: 5-hour workshop on Teambuilding, Communications, and Hardwired Safety Tools”
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The Aerospace Medical Assoc. 77th Annual Scientific Meeting, Orlando, FL Session: Crew Resource Management in Healthcare
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Chicago Healthcare Risk Management Society Annual Meeting Session: “Crew Resource Management in Healthcare: Focus on Patient Safety”
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Provena Healthcare System Annual LDI Session: Crew Resource Management in Healthcare
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PIAA Claims/Risk Management Workshop, Seattle, WA Session: Teamwork and Communication
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Norton Healthcare Session: “Strategies to Reduce Liability in the Perinatal Setting”
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Timpanogos Surgical Club Annual Retreat
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For more information about Steve Harden, see his:
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