Key Topics Patient safety Ecclesia Group Industries Healthcare Industry

HRO Award 2024 awarded

With the HRO Award (High Reliability Organization), the Ecclesia Group and Gesundheitsstadt Berlin e.V. honor outstanding organizations that contribute to patient safety through maximum reliability and continuous improvement and set new standards in healthcare.

This year's award for High Reliability Organizations went to the Clinic for Nuclear Medicine at the Kiel Campus of the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), the DRF Stiftung Luftrettung gem. AG in Filderstadt and the Munich Rescue Association (RZV). The award-winning teams are involved in direct patient care and are committed to the highest safety and quality standards. In doing so, they rely on continuous training and finely tuned process optimization.

The award winners and their projects

Highly complex and risky procedures involving radioactive substances and nuclear physics methods are at the heart of the medical activities of the Kiel clinic. In order to maximize patient safety, the clinic has particularly prioritized quality management according to HRO principles. This includes the SHARE TO CARE program, which anchors shared decision making (SDM) as a standard in doctor-patient communication. Prof. Dr. Friedemann Geiger, Head of the National Competence Centre for Shared Decision Making at the UKSH, explains: “SDM ensures shared decision-making between doctor and patient and influences all clinical processes towards a highly reliable organization.” The program improves the quality of treatment decisions and creates optimal conditions for safe treatment implementation. “Ten hospitals are already following the example of nuclear medicine in Kiel”. He hopes that the award for the program will further strengthen patient safety and find even more imitators.

The DRF Air Rescue Foundation's data-based risk management is also characterized by exemplary safety standards. In addition to reports from the Critical Incident Reporting System (CIRS), all relevant internal company data - for example from medical technology or IT - is integrated into the risk management system in order to identify and assess potential risks in patient care at an early stage. “Every problem starts small. Especially at this early stage, small difficulties offer the best opportunity for correction,” says Florian Kramer, consultant for security and crisis management at the DRF. With the award, Kramer wants to raise awareness of the DRF's HRO approach and show other organizations what is possible through consistent risk management. “The HRO Award is a valuable opportunity for professional exchange. We all benefit from the transfer of knowledge and increase patient safety together.”

The Munich Rescue Association has received an award for the use of a mobile CT scanner at the Munich Oktoberfest - a unique project worldwide. Every year, up to 8,000 patients are treated on the festival grounds, many of whom require a computer tomography (CT) scan due to minor head injuries. “The mobile CT operation at a public festival is the first of its kind in the world. It helps to relieve the burden on emergency structures and improve patient care on site,” explains Prof. Dr. Viktoria Bogner-Flatz, Medical Director of the Munich Rescue Service. “The CT has significantly improved medical care during the Oktoberfest and the operation will continue successfully.” She emphasizes how important it is “to make this innovation visible with the award”.

Why an HRO Award?

The statements of the award winners coincide with those of the initiators of the award. “A focus on patient well-being is the foundation of modern and safe medical healthcare. The systemic consideration and optimization of medical and organizational procedures as well as the safety of all employees involved in the treatment process are of the utmost importance for this,” explains Dr Iris Hauth, Chairwoman of Gesundheitsstadt Berlin. “With the HRO Award, we are honouring organizations that are leading the way in this area,” adds Dr. Peter Gausmann, expert in patient safety management at the Ecclesia Group. “The 24 applications we received in 2024 already meet the requirements of the WHO's global action plan on patient safety for this decade.”

For Jochen Körner, CEO of the Ecclesia Group, the HRO Award not only represents an opportunity to draw attention to the issue of patient safety. The award also underscores the relevance of their own services in the field of risk prevention and consulting in healthcare. "We manage the insurance coverage and risk management for more than half of all German hospitals. For us, prevention and comprehensive consulting take priority—beyond mere insurance coverage." The goal of the Ecclesia Group is to minimize risks before they arise.