Fundación Jiménez Díaz Introduces Patient Safety 360° Framework for Smart Hospitals

Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital in Spain has developed the Patient Safety 360° framework to address patient safety in the context of digital health advancements. The hospital, a high-complexity university facility, handles 5 million outpatients and performs more than 45,000 surgical procedures each year.

This volume underscores the need for systemic approaches to safety amid increasing use of artificial intelligence, automation, and digital platforms in health care.

The framework represents an end-to-end, holistic method that integrates culture, operations, digital tools, and governance throughout the care continuum. It goes beyond isolated projects or compliance with standards such as those from Joint Commission International.

Multidisciplinary teams of clinicians and engineers design and lead the system to embed safety into care delivery and improvement processes.

The primary goals of Patient Safety 360° include anticipating risks, detecting them early, reducing variability, and making safe care the standard for all patients.

Technology serves as an enabler within this broader structure, rather than a standalone solution. The hospital's general manager, who oversees the digital transformation, emphasized that safety arises from the convergence of strategy, culture, clinical practice, and governance.

In practice, the framework addresses challenges like administrative burdens and screen-focused workflows that can hinder clinician-patient communication.

The hospital launched an AI ambient Scribe program to automatically document clinical conversations and pre-order tests or procedures. This allows physicians to spend less time on documentation and more time engaging with patients, including maintaining eye contact and confirming understanding.