| Geriatric Patient Safety Initiative 1 (GPS1)
As many as 98,000 Americans die because of medical errors every year, which is more than deaths occurring from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. Every time people visit a doctor, pick up a medication from a pharmacy, or are hospitalized, they are at risk for a medical error.
Seniors are a population at highest risk for medical errors. People over 65 years old routinely have more medical problems, more medications, and subsequently see more health care professionals. Seniors are also at risk due to diminishing memory, poor vision and hearing, and complex support networks.
The Geriatric Patient Safety Initiative (GPS) at Northwestern is the first to formally dedicate physicians, researchers, and resources to improve the specifically target the safety of the senior patient. Northwestern University is the first institution with a dedicated geriatric patient safety headquarters. Working in conjunction with geriatricians and patient safety experts at Northwestern, we are leading the way in changing how clinicians improve care to seniors through clinical practices, research, and education.
• Redesigning how seniors get their medical care.
• Establishing nation-wide benchmarks for safer hospital discharges.
• Educational Programs specific to training medical students on Patient Safety
Health literacy and discharge safety for inpatient seniors
Medication at Transitions and Clinical Handoff (MATCH) program
Outpatient medication reconciliation using electronic medical systems
Medical student patient safety courses with a senior focus
First year medical student Geriatric Immersion Program
Seminars for second year medical students on senior negotiations in healthcare
Identifying at risk inpatient seniors for geriatric consultation
Outpatient optimization of electronic medical records for senior benchmarks
Geriatric Nurse Practioner home visits for Gero-Oncology patients
Ultimately, what is accomplished within the Geriatric Patient Safety Initiative will affect every single senior within the American healthcare system.
Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a member of the Division of Geriatrics and her clinical practice primarily revolves around care of those aged 65 yrs and older. Dr. Lindquist is a graduate of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency and her fellowship training in geriatrics at Northwestern University. She is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. She also completed her Masters in Public Health during her participation in the NRSA fellowship program.
As a founding member of the Northwestern Center on Patient Safety, she has performed multiple research studies on patient safety with a focus on improving the safety and well-being of seniors as they transition from acute hospitalizations (discharge processes).
For Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Dr. Lindquist is a member of the Medication Safety Committee and the Patient Safety Committee. She also serves on the advisory panel of several local continuing retirement communities. She is on the speaker’s bureau for the American Geriatrics Society and is a current member of the Chicago Patient Safety Forum, the American College of Physicians, and the Society for General Internal Medicine.
Dr. Lindquist’s research has focused on issues of transitional care among the elderly, particularly in improving the safety between the hospital discharge to outpatient care settings. She has also performed work on assisted living and alternatives to assisted living for the elderly as well as improving geriatric education for medical students. She has been awarded the Baxter Prize for Research Excellence, an Excellence in Academic Medicine Award, and the Augusta Webster Grant for Innovation in Medical Education. She has published numerous articles in geriatric care and has received international media attention for her work. Appearing on CNN, MSNBC, and nationally syndicated talk shows, she has been tapped by multiple news sources to cover senior care issues as well as medical issues among aging political figures. The list continues as coverage on her research has been seen in the New York Times, Harper’s, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, and multiple other regional sources. She has been included in Marquis’s Who’s Who in America for the past 2 years.
| | | Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH
Geriatrics Clinical Practice Director of Outpatient Services
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
LAL425@md.northwestern.edu
| | | | | | | | | | |  Allan Doeksen works as the Project Coordinator for the Northwestern Center for Patient Safety. The Northwestern Center for Patient Safety is jointly sponsored by Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Institute for Healthcare Studies. Allan Doeksen has previous experience as a project coordinator for research involving discharge planning and medication reconciliation. | | | Allan Doeksen
Northwestern Center for Patient Safety
Northwestern University
PatientSafety@northwestern.edu | | |
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