Center for Immersive Learning and Digital Innovation: A Patient Safety Learning Lab advancing patient safety through design, systems engineering, and health services research

Project Summary COVID-19 has seriously strained US healthcare work systems and exposed the critical need for a redesign of current systems to improve quality of care and promote patient safety, particularly as to inpatient healthcare- associated infections. Crucial to the redesign of those systems is a better understanding of human and system factors in the evaluation of existing care processes, and the incorporation of immersive learning technologies and digital innovation to train healthcare workers. In this project, Johns Hopkins Center for Immersive Learning and Digital Innovations (CILDI) will utilize the systems engineering initiative for patient safety model to advance the science of safety in preventing and controlling central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). Our research will consider and balance human and system factors, and utilize the AHRQ systems engineering methodology to identify, design, develop, implement, and evaluate solutions to CLABSI. We will pursue the following aims: 1) foster a new generation of interprofessional clinicians actively engaged in providing safe patient care using virtual simulation and virtual reality to decrease the rate of CLABSI, 2) establish the Johns Hopkins CILDI as an interdisciplinary and patient/family informed, sustainable infrastructure to advance the science of patient safety in preventing and controlling CLABSI using augmented reality approaches, and 3) leverage unique patient safety learning laboratory environment strengths to enhance translation of systems engineering-based robotic interventions for optimal management of CLABSI. The Johns Hopkins CILDI will include immersive learning, and engage a digital innovation advisory board, our project team, a systems engineering and human factor advisory core and translational advisory core. The center science has high potential to improve the quality of care processes and patient safety, and decrease CLABSI rates.