Betsy Lehman Center Q&A: Bob Hanscom on learning from malpractice data, partnering with clinicians and the future of patient safety (14 September 2022)

Summary

Bob Hanscom, J.D., is retiring this week after a nearly 30-year career championing patient safety improvement. He has been Vice President of Risk Management and Analytics at Coverys since 2013 and earlier held similar positions at CRICO and CRICO Strategies. He was Vice President of Clinical Services at Lahey Clinic from 1993 to 1998 and prior to that practiced law.

Content

"I’d like to see health care make a significant effort to identify which processes are universally critical to the delivery of care and develop uniform standards — not just here in Massachusetts but across the country. That is why I think the Betsy Lehman Center and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors are so important. I wish every state had similar groups. A national coalition of these groups could join together and start doing this very important work."

"I’m convinced we can drive unnecessary variation out of health care, but it will take leadership to help us get our arms around the problem. To whatever extent I can still contribute, that’s the sort of work I would actively support."