Republished: What Is the Return on Investment for Implementation of a Crew Resource Management Program at an Academic Medical Center?*. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moffatt-Bruce, Susan D.; Hefner, Jennifer L.; Mekhjian, Hagop; McAlearney, John S.; Latimer, RN, MS, Tina; Ellison, Chris; Scheck McAlearney, Ann
• Is Part Of: American journal of medical quality. Volume 34:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 502
• Page End: 508
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: patient safety -- crew resource management -- quality improvement -- medical errors -- organizational change; Medical care -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Evaluation -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Utilization review -- Periodicals; Medical care -- United States -- Periodicals; 362.1
• DOI: 10.1177/1062860619873226
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1062-8606

Abstract

Crew Resource Management (CRM) training has been used successfully within hospital units to improve quality and safety. This article presents a description of a health system-wide implementation of CRM focusing on the return on investment (ROI). The costs included training, programmatic fixed costs, time away from work, and leadership time. Cost savings were calculated based on the reduction in avoidable adverse events and cost estimates from the literature. Between July 2010 and July 2013, roughly 3000 health system employees across 12 areas were trained, costing $3.6 million. The total number of adverse events avoided was 735—a 25.7% reduction in observed relative to expected events. Savings ranged from a conservative estimate of $12.6 million to as much as $28.0 million. Therefore, the overall ROI for CRM training was in the range of $9.1 to $24.4 million. CRM presents a financially viable way to systematically organize for quality improvement.