Bringing the patient voice into the operating room: engaging patients in surgical safety research with the Operating Room Black Box®

Cole Etherington; Maxime Lê; Laurie Proulx; Sylvain Boet

doi:10.1186/s40900-022-00367-5

Bringing the patient voice into the operating room: engaging patients in surgical safety research with the Operating Room Black Box^®

Res Involv Engagem. 2022 Jul 23;8(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s40900-022-00367-5.

Authors

Cole Etherington^{1

2}, Maxime Lê³, Laurie Proulx^{3

4}, Sylvain Boet^{5

6

7

8

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
² Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³ The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴ Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
⁶ Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
⁷ Department of Innovation in Medical Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
⁸ Francophone Affairs, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
⁹ Institute du Savoir Monfort, Ottawa, ON, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
¹⁰ Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.
¹¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada. sboet@toh.ca.

Abstract

Background: Surgery is one of the most common patient experiences in the health care system. Yet, efforts to engage patients in surgical safety research have not matched those of other health care fields. This is a critical issue given the nature of surgery inhibits patients' abilities to advocate for themselves as they are typically under anesthetic when the procedure is performed. We partnered with patients throughout our research program, which uses the Operating Room Black Box^® to enhance surgical patient safety through transparent and proactive analysis of human factors to detect and prevent avoidable errors.

Main body: In this article, we outline the need for, and our approach to, patient engagement in surgical safety research. Our approach included a series of planned activities and skill development opportunities designed to build capacity and bring together patients, clinicians, and researchers to inform research and practice. We also conducted evaluation surveys during the first year of our program, which have indicated a positive experience by both patient partners and the research team.

Conclusion: We believe our approach can serve as an important first step toward building a model for patient engagement in the surgical safety field and could significantly contribute to improved quality of care and outcomes for surgical patients.

Keywords: Healthcare delivery; Operating rooms; Patient engagement; Patient participation; Patient safety; Quality improvement; Surgical safety.

Plain language summary

Although surgery is one of the most common patient experiences, patients have not been engaged in surgical safety research. Patients were engaged as patient advisors in the use of the Operating Room Black Box^® at The Ottawa Hospital. The Operating Room Black Box^® is a tool that is used in the operating room (OR) which captures audio, video, patient vital signs and other information that are analyzed for research purposes. The aim of the OR Black Box^® is to learn from experience and improve practice and care. Patient advisors influenced the nature of the activities undertaken, co-developed the communication materials for patients, evaluated patient engagement practices, and disseminated the research results. These patient engagement activities are an important first step in engaging patients in surgical safety research.

Publication types

Letter