Kai Zacharowski Honoured by Patient Safety Foundation for PBMS

Professor Kai Zacharowski, Director of the Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy at Frankfurt University Hospital has been honoured with the 2015 Humanitarian Award from the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, for his outstanding contribution to reducing the number of preventable patient deaths. Zacharowski and his team developed an innovative patient blood management system to reduce preoperative anaemia by focusing on identifying patients at risk for needing transfusion and increasing their haemoglobin level by administering iron intravenously before surgery. His team’s study, Safety and Effectiveness of a Patient Blood Management (PBM) Program in Surgical Patients (NCT01820949), has demonstrated up to 20 percent  reduction in red blood cell transfusion, risk of acute kidney injury and overall costs, without any negative impact to patient safety. The study is pending publication. As every third patient admitted to hospital for an operation suffers from anaemia Zacharowski’s work will be of immense benefit.

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation’s mission is to reduce the number of preventable patient deaths in hospitals worldwide. At the 4th annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit, January 22-23, 2016, Prof. Zacharowski (pictured with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, keynote speaker at the summit) received the Humanitarian Award. The other recipients of the Humanitarian Award were U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden jointly for their commitment to establishing broad access to healthcare through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts (ACA),  Senator Barbara Boxer, a Californian patient safety activist, and Alicia Cole, Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Safety Awareness for Patients (ASAP), an organisation dedicated to promoting public awareness of hospital-acquired infections, mentoring new patient advocates and counselling with survivors of medical harm.

See Also: True Blood: Blood Sampling in ICUs

“With the aid of this approach, blood transfusions can be reduced by up to 20 percent and the risk of acute kidney damage and costs can be lowered – without endangering the patient’s health through potential anaemia. Drawing attention to this fact, even if it calls into question hospital routine up to now, is my job as the patient’s advocate”, says Professor Zacharowski. He added that his vision was that no patient with existing anaemia would be operated on.

Prof. Kai Zacharowski’s award presentation from Joe Kiani, Founder, Patient Safety Movement



Prof. Kai Zacharowski's lecture on the study



Source: Goethe University Frankfurt
Image credit: Patient Safety Movement Foundation