The Doctors Company Foundation Names Gerald B. Hickson, MD, as Recipient of the Vanguard Award for the Advancement of Patient Safety
Napa, California—November 17, 2008—The Doctors Company Foundation, formed by The Doctors Company to advance and protect the practice of good medicine, is pleased to award Gerald B. Hickson, MD, the Vanguard Award for the Advancement of Patient Safety.
The award is designed to draw public and industry attention to the importance of patient safety within the medical profession and to recognize physicians who demonstrate leadership in this area. In addition to the award, a $1,000 grant will be presented to Vanderbilt University for the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy.
The Doctors Company Foundation is honoring Dr. Hickson for his leadership contributions to the national patient safety movement. Dr. Hickson teaches and publishes extensively on the relationship between patients, dissatisfaction with their care experiences, and physicians’ medical malpractice risk. His research has focused on why patients file malpractice suits and why some physicians have a disproportionate share of malpractice claims. An important conclusion is that a physician’s inability to establish and maintain rapport with patients/families and other members of the medical team is a root cause of poor care outcomes and excess malpractice risk.
Dr. Hickson founded the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center whose mission is to promote patient and professional satisfaction with health care experiences. In 1996, the center developed a peer-based intervention program to identify and intervene with high malpractice risk physicians. Details about the Vanderbilt risk prevention program and other educational programs can be found at www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cppa.
Dr. Hickson writes and teaches extensively on the importance of physician-patient communication. Occasionally, communication failures are prompted by nonprofessional or disruptive behaviors by members of the medical team. The national patient safety movement has focused attention on the importance of redesigning the systems in which medical care is delivered.
“One goal for reducing system error and preventing adverse medical events is eliminating communication errors. Dr. Hickson’s research has made a major contribution to enhancing patient safety in the American health care system,” said David B. Troxel, MD, board member of The Doctors Company Foundation and medical director for The Doctors Company.
Dr. Hickson is professor of Pediatrics, associate dean for Clinical Affairs, and associate professor of Family and Health Systems Nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Hickson is currently chair of the National Patient Safety Foundation Board of Governors. He is past chair of the Quality Care Committee of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and a past member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Quality Improvement.
About The Doctors Company Foundation
The Doctors Company Foundation is committed to advancing and protecting the practice of good medicine. Founded by The Doctors Company in 2008, the Foundation focuses on promoting and supporting research that will enhance patient safety, physician education, and legal reform.
