Patient Safety: Why It’s Getting More Visibility

The enactment of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act last year sets the stage for health care providers to be able to report medical errors confidentially to designated entities known as “Patient Safety Organizations” (PSOs).

How will these PSOs operate? What information will be reported to them, and how will policymakers use the data to make additional improvements in health care facilities across the country? What is the status of ongoing safety efforts, such as the “100,000 Lives” campaign, to substantially decrease hospital mortality? What exemplary patient safety efforts are under way at individual medical centers and hospitals? Finally, is there agreement on the best measures of patient safety?

To answer these questions and more, the Alliance for Health Reform sponsored an April 7, 2006 briefing, in cooperation with the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Leadership Association. Panelists were: Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Janet Corrigan, CEO and president of the recently reorganized National Quality Forum; Thomas Nolan, quality consultant and senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Stephen Mayfield, senior VP of quality and performance improvement at the American Hospital Association; and Mary Ann Fuchs, chief nursing officer, Duke University Medical Center. Cynthia Armstrong, Robert Wood Johnson executive nurse fellow, and Ed Howard of the Alliance moderated the discussion.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

Stephen Mayfield Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Thomas Nolan Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Mary Ann Fuchs Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)