Permeating all sections of this plan are both the CC's new Mission Statement: "We provide hope through pioneering clinical research to improve human health" and these seven Guiding Principles, recently revised to integrate the organizational journey to high reliability:
1: Individual and collective passion for high reliability in the safe delivery of patient-centric care in a clinical research environment
Patients and their families are full partners in the research enterprise. Risks related to a therapy that has never been used in humans for the first time may be unavoidable. CC staff will be relentless in anticipating preventable harm, applying a systems approach to eliminate risks whenever possible, and mitigating those that remain.
2: Diversity and inclusion of people and ideas
The best scientific and clinical outcomes and the organizational climate and culture that produce those outcomes require that all staff, volunteers, patients, family members, and visitors be treated with dignity and respect. Whereas we all share a love for science and for our patient-partners, there will be many differences of opinion about other issues surrounding clinical research and patient care that we will confront. We will appreciate and celebrate those differences while ensuring that the needs of women and minorities remain an area of focus to promote elimination of health disparities across the organization.
Note: Specifically aligned with this guiding principle are current efforts to enhance participation in CC clinical studies by women and minorities in support of 42 USC 289a-2(a)(3).
3: Compassion for our patients, their families, and one another
Whereas our mission is to conduct the research necessary to improve human health, we understand that feeling cared for counts! It counts tremendously! Patients often come to the CC when they have no other options. We will not add to their burden by failing to assist them in every way possible. Also, we will treat other staff members with the same compassion and civility that we show our patients and their families.
4: Innovation in both preventing and solving problems
Researchers are problem solvers by their very nature. However, even great problem solvers may inadvertently suffer lapses and commit errors when required to address issues urgently. Many of these errors may be avoided by anticipating problems and assessing risk before initiating a research study or a complex clinical task, and then establishing contingency plans that can be exercised if a problem occurs. In our relentless efforts to eliminate medical errors, prevention plays a key role.
5: Accountability for the optimal use of all resources
We provide hope through pioneering clinical research to improve human health.
Biomedical research in general entails considerable expense, and clinical research is especially costly. CC staff must be cost-conscious without compromising patient safety or compliance with all relevant statutes and regulations.
6: Excellence in clinical scientific discovery and application
The CC has an extraordinary legacy of achievement in advancing clinical medicine. From the first cure of malignancy with chemotherapy to the first use of effective antiretroviral therapy to the explosive development of immunotherapies for cancer, the CC will continue to be in the vanguard of clinical breakthroughs that require our unique resources and expertise to develop.
7: Commitment to professional growth and development
Everything we do in the CC is dependent on the commitment of our staff to biomedical science and taking care of patients. The CC must remain in the forefront as new knowledge develops and tools and processes of clinical science and patient care evolve. We can only do so by continuing to invest in our people.