The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enacted the Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Act, which creates a voluntary reporting program in which health care providers can share information relating to patient safety events with a patient safety organization (PSO) on a privileged and confidential basis. The goal is to bolster efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Belonging to a PSO can benefit your practice. The AMA has consistently endorsed the benefits of belonging to a PSO since the physician’s perspective is often missing when it comes to analyzing patient safety events. Sharing these events with a PSO allows others to learn as well.
Providers can report safety events to PSOs within a protected environment safe from legal discovery and publication. As a result, PSOs can be a source of confidential advice and data analysis for physicians seeking to understand and improve their health care delivery. Physicians are foremost leaders in deciding whether health care is good, safe, and efficient, but the work of improving performance is difficult and demanding. By developing and using their own patient safety evaluation systems to report to PSOs, physicians are better able to develop robust, actionable information in order to redesign processes and systems that improve care delivery, reduce the potential for patient harm and increase care efficiency.
For information on the NCQC Patient Safety Organization, please contact Nancy Schanz, Director, NCQC PSO
