Techna 2016
Getting to Zero: Engineering Safety Into Healthcare Technology and Practice
The Techna 2016 Symposium – Getting to Zero: Engineering Safety Into Healthcare Technology and Practice brought together a diverse group of healthcare experts to examine errors that put patients at risk and discuss ways of engineering safety into medical equipment and hospital everyday practices.
Dr. David Jaffray, Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation at UHN and Director of the Techna Institute started the day with some opening remarks emphasizing the importance of building a safe medical system for patients and healthcare providers.
Our Keynote Speaker Dr. Terry Fairbanks, an ER physician and director of National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, spoke about the crucial role human factors testing plays in any healthcare setting.
David Gilmore of Elekta, Shawn O’Connell of Braun Medical, Brian Lasiuk of GE Healthcare, and David Ferguson of Baxter Healthcare joined in our industry panel to discuss various ways of engineering safety into healthcare technology.
Throughout the day, we enjoyed sessions on Trust and the Culture of Error moderated by Peter Rossos, and Safety at the Front Lines: Decision Making and Behaviour moderated by Emily Musing.
Moreover, we were privileged to hear from patients themselves, who shared their stories on how medical errors affected their lives.
At the end of the symposium, we were treated to a debate moderated by Patricia Trbovich, where David Urbach and Chris Hayes discussed the utility of checklists in the OR.
Finally, we had a chance to hear from the Reaction Panel, moderated by Patricia Trbovich, where Bob Bell, Deputy Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and past president of UHN, Sharon Rogers, Senior Director of Patient Relations at UHN, and Dr. Fayez A. Quereshy, a surgical oncologist and minimally invasive surgeon, made insightful comments about the use of checklists in the OR.
Techna 2016 was a great success. It offered a glimpse into how our collaboration and ongoing dedication to patient safety, paired with innovative medical technology, will allow us to get to zero – hopefully, in the nearest future.
Presentations
Videos of the presentations can be viewed from the Techna Symposium website.
Photos from Techna 2016
