Dateline DFCI
DFCI's new patient safety chief casts wide (safety) net
Dana-Farber has long been recognized as a national leader in safeguarding patients undergoing treatment, but it is now broadening its "safety net" of teaching, research, and care.
Saul Weingart, MD, PhD
"There are few other world-class health-care organizations that embrace safety as part of their core missions," says Saul Weingart, MD, PhD. "I believe we can work together to splice safety into the genome of the Institute."
In his new role directing DFCI's Center for Patient Safety, Weingart—an internist by training who joined the staff in September—is working with clinicians, researchers, administrators, patients, families, and others to coordinate and expand the Institute's safety efforts. While devoting most of his attention to the center, he is also carving out time to see cancer survivors seeking follow-up care.
Weingart began his medical career in the mid-1990s, when patient safety was emerging as a national priority—with DFCI playing a leadership role. He has taught patient-safety skills to both medical students and health-care executives, and he is conducting research on the role that patients and families can play in identifying and preventing medical errors
"Patients can offer a lot of extraordinarily valuable information," he says. "You just have to ask for it."
