An Anesthesiology Department Leads Culture Change at a Hospital System Level to Improve Quality and Patient Safety

At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center, an innovative approach to involving housestaff in quality and patient safety, policy and procedure creation, and culture change was led by the Department of Anesthesiology of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. A Housestaff Quality Council was started in 2008 that has partnered with hospital leadership and clinical departments to engage the housestaff in quality and patient safety initiatives, resulting in measurable improvements in several patient care projects and enhanced working relationships among various clinical constituencies. Ultimately this attempt to change culture has found great success in fostering a relationship between the housestaff and the hospital in ways that have and will continue to improve patient care.