W. Edwards Deming, one of the founders of modern quality improvement, invented the famous Red Bead Experiment to illustrate how typical managers try — and fail — to improve quality. In a new video, Dr. Don Berwick leads the demonstration in a class at the Harvard School of Public Health, showing what happens when a manager tries to improve quality by rewarding and punishing workers for performance. Use this video and the discussion questions to lead a conversation about quality in your classroom or Chapter.

No one goes into health care intending to harm patients. But if patient harm happens, providers need to know how to respond. In PS 105: Responding to Adverse Events, you’ll learn what patients need most when things go wrong — and how to care for the caregivers. In this updated course, you’ll also get a brief introduction to root cause analysis to learn how to prevent adverse events from happening in the future.

Are providers rude to each other because they’re burned out? Dr. Allison Bond, a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, thinks so. Writing for Stat News, she reports that courtesy isn’t a nice-to-have: Studies show rude behavior shuts down communication among providers, leads to more medical error, and decreases staff performance. Learn more about civility from IHI CEO Derek Feeley, including how you can contribute to a positive culture.

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