Despite decades of investment, patient safety progress has slowed, with preventable harm and unprofessional behaviors persisting across healthcare settings. A small proportion of clinicians account for a disproportionate share of harm events and patient complaints, creating environments that erode trust and jeopardize outcomes. At the same time, teams often struggle to address these challenges effectively, especially when staff hesitate to report safety concerns or misconduct due to fear of retaliation or an overall lack of psychological safety. To make meaningful progress, organizations must move beyond good intentions and take deliberate action to build a culture where professionalism and accountability are fully integrated into daily practice.

In this session, the presenters will explore how health systems can move beyond rhetoric to create environments where transparency and respect are the norm. Drawing on real-world experience and proven models, they will share practical approaches for addressing unsafe behavior before it leads to harm. They will also demonstrate how to effectively support teams after adverse events to foster a culture of learning where individuals feel safe and empowered to speak up. Attendees will gain insight into how a strong culture of safety and professionalism lays the foundation for high reliability and better patient and provider outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how professionalism and a culture of safety contribute to building high-performing teams and safer care environments.
• Identify practical strategies for recognizing and addressing unprofessional or unsafe behaviors in healthcare settings.
• Outline steps to create systems that encourage open communication, learning from mistakes and shared accountability across teams.

Faculty:

Timothy McDonald, MD, JD, Chief Patient Safety and Risk Officer, RLDatix

Gerald B. Hickson, MD, Joseph C. Ross Chair of Medical Education and Administration/Professor of Pediatrics/Founding Director, Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

ACHE Qualifying Education Credit 

This activity is eligible for 1 ACHE Qualifying Education credit toward earning or maintaining your FACHE credential. 

Credits must be self-reported at My ACHE upon completion of this activity. 

Thank you, RLDatix

This program is made possible in part by the support of RLDatix, an ACHE Premier Corporate Partner. ACHE would like to thank RLDatix for its commitment to ACHE and helping us advance healthcare management excellence. Find more information about RLDatix here.