How to Stay Safe When Entering the Healthcare System

Abstract

This book is an urgent call to action centering on the author's thirty-five-year mission to raise awareness of the 250,000 lives that are lost each year to preventable medical harm and the harm faced by healthcare professionals in the form of workplace violence, depression, and burnout resulting in suicide rates higher than almost every other industry. The book's narrative-driven timeline follows the author's 2,452-mile walk to thirty-seven Major League Ballparks using his love of baseball as a way to garner media attention for his mission and indulge in the welcome relief of baseball nostalgia.

Written for both medical professional and lay readers, the book pulls in stories of patients and caregivers harmed as a catalyst for change in our healthcare system, and as a way for the public to connect with the issues faced by healthcare professionals. Also included are pivotal anecdotes and stories from his medical career that propelled him to become an internationally recognized patient safety leader. This book will educate, inform, and entertain medical, nursing, and allied healthcare professionals; patients and families affected or harmed by medical care; healthcare leaders; medical, nursing and pharmacy students; and politicians interested in healthcare reform. After reading this book, the lay public will be empowered to question healthcare professionals about the quality of their care and learn how to stay safe when entering the healthcare system.

WORDS OF PRAISE

--The personal stories reveal how Dr. Mayer confronts brutal truths of preventable patient harm, fixes what needs to be changed, and teaches next generation physicians to be leaders in patient safety. You won't want to put the book down, a real page-turner.
--Rosemary Gibson, Nationally Acclaimed Author of Wall of Silence and China Rx

Dr. Mayer is a literal trailblazer in patient safety, as his astonishing walk across America attests. This book cements his legacy as a patient safety titan, and is, at its core, a vital wake-up call to action for all of us. Read this book and prepare to be inspired. I know I was.
--Steve Burrows, Writer/Director of HBO’s Award-winning Documentary Bleed Out.

Dr Mayer is an international leader in promoting patient safety. This book is part of that mission. It is a book about an epic walk. It is a book about the art of good medical care. And it is a book that will help readers understand that we all have a role in making our health system safer.
--Kim Oates AO MD DSC FRACP, Emeritus Professor, Child and Adolescent Health University of Sydney, Australia

Dr. Mayer put himself on the line in walking for patient safety representing all involved in healthcare just as he put his career on the line through unwavering transparency, commitment to social justice, and support for all members of the care teams. It is leaders like Dr. Mayer and the stories within these pages that inspire their courageous dedication to do the right thing for every patient every day every time.
--Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, Co-Editor, Quality and Safety in Nursing: A Competency Approach to Improving Outcomes

About the Author

David Mayer, MD is executive director of the MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety (MIQS) and previously served for six years as vice president, quality and safety for MedStar Health and as chief executive officer for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. He serves on numerous safety boards including the Clinical Advisory Board for The Leap Frog Group and the Clinical Advisory Board for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) CLER committee. He was listed on the Becker’s Hospital Review 2017 and 2018 lists of Top 50 people leading patient safety.

Dr. Mayer founded and has led the Annual Telluride Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety Summer Camp over the last thirteen years, training over 1,400 future healthcare leaders the tenets of safe, high quality patient care. He co-produced the award winning patient safety film series titled The Faces of Medical Error: From Tears to Transparency. He was selected by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare as an international quality and safety expert and elected to the prestigious International Academy of Quality and Safety in Health Care. He regularly presents and writes on topics related to quality and patient safety.