To Make Medicine Kinder, Safer and More Reliable, the CPPA:
Works with professionals, hospitals, medical groups, and health systems to implement the PARS®and CORSSM Programs at their institutions
Conducts Professional Development activities to the national and international learning community of clinicians, health care leaders, and administrators
Collaborates with research colleagues worldwide who share our commitment to promoting professionalism and teamwork in healthcare and beyond
Patient Advocacy Reporting System (PARS)
Patient Advocacy Reporting System (PARS) is an evidence based tool and process to promote professional accountability and self/group regulation through identification of and intervention with professionals at increased risk for malpractice claims and adverse medical outcomes associated with a greater number of patient complaints.
Coworker Observation Reporting System (CORS)
CORS is an evidence based tool and process to help organizations address professionals who threaten quality, safety, and risk through unprofessional behaviors towards coworkers.
PARS and CORS Process
The CPPA employs a seven-step process for promoting professionalism. Our process is based on more than 20 years of research and a partnership with more than 200 health care systems.
Promoting Professionalism Pyramid
The pyramid illustrates a tiered intervention approach that supports pursuit of professional accountability. CPPA designed PARS and CORS to promote successful self- and group-regulation.
CPPA conducts professional development training and education to an international learning community of clinicians, health care leaders, administrators, and educators. We offer public courses as well as customized programs. Our professional development activities include:
Public Courses – Our professionalism course, Pursuing Professionalism: Addressing Behaviors that Undermine a Culture of Safety and Respect, is offered multiple times a year. Click here to learn more about our current offering. Courses are listed on the CPPA website, including information about the next scheduled session and how to register. Courses include case-based simulations in which participants assume roles within “Highly Functioning Health System” (HFHS). Several individuals within HFHS appear to be exhibiting patterns of disrespect toward others or are failing to follow best safety practices and as a result threaten team performance and safety. Through practice exercises, group discussions, data analysis simulations, discussions with legal experts and sharing personal stories, participants learn what infrastructure elements are required to identify and support those colleagues who create risk and why the pursuit of professionalism is vital to a healthy culture and team performance. We frequently package these courses and deliver them in a variety of settings when requested.
Roundtables – CPPA regularly hosts roundtables that focus on special challenges leaders may face in their pursuit of professionalism, high reliability, and safety. Recent roundtables have addressed: Best Practices for Individuals Who Require an Authority Guided Intervention and What if there is a Family problem? How to identify and address?
Customized Speaking Engagements – Customized programs are developed based on the identified needs of groups and systems and range from 1 to 2-hour didactic presentations, half day case-based workshops, to full day or longer interactive training events. Topics are centered on professionalism, disclosure of adverse events and medical errors, interprofessional communication workshops, research grand rounds, and special training to support team members in communication skills, including sharing a "Cup of Coffee".
Train the Trainer Model – When possible, our philosophy is to support sustainability of our partners’ professionalism work by identifying and equipping local trainers. CPPA faculty train these trainers in sharing about adverse events and medical errors consistent with VUMC’s disclosure model, conducting interprofessional workshops, and in sharing a "Cup of Coffee", awareness and guided interventions. CPPA faculty are passionate about education and committed to supporting our partners maintain fidelity to best practices.
Virtual Offerings – CPPA’s goal is for participants to be actively engaged in their education experiences. We utilize the latest production equipment and virtual tools such as breakout rooms, web-based small and large group collaboration tools, as well as participant-generated artwork to share common experiences. Recognizing learning needs in the virtual space differ from in-person experiences, our agendas for each session are designed to ensure short bursts of information coupled with adequate processing time. We’ve learned breaks should be purposeful to encourage assimilation of course content. Our learning experience designers and faculty continue to expand our programs to virtual audiences, having reached thousands of people worldwide.
CPPA's original charge included translating what was learned to improve bedside and clinic practice. To that end, CPPA faculty and staff collaborate on research studies with client sites and others interested in promoting professionalism in health care. Our commitment to helping organizations realize high reliability in patient safety and promote a culture of safety and respect among co-workers in healthcare settings drives our research. Visit our research page for a comprehensive list of our research projects.