Open | Dr James P Bagian patient story

Dr James P Bagian is a world-renowned expert in the field of patient safety. He is director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety at the University of Michigan, part of a career that has included being an astronaut, pilot, freefall parachutist, mountaineer and anaesthetist.

Dr Bagian visited New Zealand during the inaugural Patient Safety Week (3–9 November 2014), run as part of the Health Quality & Safety Commission's Open for better care campaign.

Dr Bagian had his own experience of the American health care system when he hit a deer on his motorcycle.

In this video he talks about discovering no hot water in his burns unit, the problem of health professionals being accustomed to one way of working, and the three questions they should all be able to answer yes to.