Skip to content
HomeOur CompanyDiscover J&J Office of the Chief Medical OfficerHow we innovate for patient safety
Man and woman working in a lab

How we innovate for patient safety

At Johnson & Johnson, patient safety is guided by Our Credo and embedded in our culture—a culture that puts patients first and empowers everyone to act with integrity, transparency, and accountability. Our culture of patient safety motivates us to collaborate with all stakeholders at every stage, from scientific research and development through care delivery and post-market surveillance. We are driven by our shared commitment to develop innovative solutions that address the complex and evolving needs of the patients and communities we serve.

The Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO) pioneers new methods to integrate clinical and safety science, epidemiology, and bioethics into our product development and decision-making processes. Our goal? To make evidence and science-based decisions that prioritize patient safety and well-being.

Here are five ways the OCMO is doing this:

1.

Integrating patient preference into product development

Understanding the patient perspective is critical to developing innovative products that truly meet their needs. At Johnson & Johnson, we work to identify the benefit and safety outcomes most important to patients, the relative importance of those outcomes, and the tradeoffs patients are willing to make between them. We use structured Benefit-Risk assessments, distinct from clinical study results and increasingly valued by regulatory authorities, for decision-making. In addition, incorporating patient preference information into the assessments ensures that the patient’s voice is heard and integrated into the development of our pharmaceuticals and medical devices, making our products not only safe and effective, but also aligned with what patients value most.

2.

Enabling safer surgeries with innovative tools

Surgeries can be complex, therefore minimizing device-related interruptions in the operating room is essential for patient safety. Johnson & Johnson designs and develops innovative safety tools and implements processes to ensure safe and effective use. For example, the Device Briefing Tool (DBT) developed with our partners at Ariadne Labs supplements the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC), transforming surgical team performance during surgery. This tool improves teamwork and communication among surgical teams by empowering them to be ready and to speak up in the operating room. Concurrent use of the SSC and the DBT, as published in JAMA Surgery showed an 86.7% reduction in device-related interruptions and a significant improvement in non-technical skills, which contributes to better patient outcomes.

DBT Updated video (11-9-24).mp4
Device Briefing Tool (DBT)

3.

Enhancing safety decision-making using real-world evidence (RWE)

Informed decisions are the cornerstone of patient safety. RWE, drawn from real-world patient data and experiences, offers a wealth of information that complements traditional clinical trial data relating to the safety and effectiveness of our products. Our teams lead the way in analyzing RWE for regulatory decision-making to allow regulators and health authorities around the world to make more informed safety decisions about both the benefits and safety of our products, ensuring that healthcare providers have the most comprehensive information available when treating patients.

4.

Co-creating resources with patients to address unmet patient needs

Patient need is a compass, and it is incumbent upon us to follow where it leads. For Johnson & Johnson, it led us to develop a first-of-its-kind Guide to Expanded Access back in 2021. Following feedback from patients and advocates alike, we’ve released an updated edition for 32 countries. This first-of-its-kind Guide to Expanded Access provides patients, caregivers, and physicians much-needed clarity around expanded access – a potential pathway to investigational treatment outside of clinical trials for patients who are ineligible to participate in a trial and whose disease has exhausted all available treatment options. With program requirements and details that vary country by country, expanded access can be challenging to understand and navigate. Guided by our bioethical principles, the Guide to Expanded Access brings to life Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to patient health and safety while enhancing transparency and clarity.

5.

Pioneering data transparency through collaboration with the YODA Project

Transparency in clinical research is vital for advancing science and improving patient outcomes. Over the past decade, Johnson & Johnson has partnered with the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project. This first-of-its-kind collaboration allows external researchers to access our clinical trial data, fostering an environment of openness and trust. By sharing access to our data, we are contributing to a broader understanding of medicine and paving the way for new safety insights and innovations.

The Johnson & Johnson Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO) champions health care innovation that patients can trust. The OCMO uniquely combines safety science, epidemiology and bioethics expertise to inform evidence- and science-based product decisions that put patients first. We lead with care and rigorous science to build a world where patients are as safe as possible and people-centered innovation is paramount. To learn more about OCMO, visit jnj.com/office-of-the-chief-medical-officer.

More from Johnson & Johnson

This scientist couldn’t save his father from lung cancer—but the targeted treatments Robert Zhao, Ph.D., has since developed have helped countless others

Learn more about Zhao, his partnership with Johnson & Johnson and antibody-drug conjugates—a new type of cancer therapy that targets and kills cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

After their husbands were diagnosed with multiple myeloma, these 3 care partners became health equity activists

Kimberly Alexander, Michelle Ware-Ivy and Marsha Calloway-Campbell learned firsthand that Black individuals develop multiple myeloma at higher rates. That’s why they joined Johnson & Johnson’s That’s My Word® health equity campaign, which builds awareness about the disparities surrounding this rare blood cancer.

How Johnson & Johnson is working to get medications to people around the world who need them most

In the just-released 2024 Access to Medicine Index, the company ranks among the top 5 improving access to medicines.