In 1999, the release of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, focused national attention on improving patient safety. In September 2015, the IOM issued another major report, this time addressing failed diagnoses. Now, another major player in medical policy has weighed in with a detailed report on patient safety.
The new report, released in early December by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), is Free From Harm: Accelerating Patient Safety Improvement Fifteen Years After ‘To Err Is Human.’
The report was aided by the work of an expert panel convened by the NPSF to assess the state of current medical practices and culture. The panel, with representatives from such areas as academia, information technology, clinical care, risk management, and the medical professional liability industry, was asked to help set the stage for the work needed to tackle the persistent challenges in the field of patient safety. Representing the liability industry was Brian Atchinson, president and CEO of the PIAA, a trade association for medical professional liability companies to which CAP belongs.
The panel issued eight major recommendations to help leaders in all fields place an even higher priority on what NPSF describes as “patient safety science” and implementation. The recommendations address such areas as patient safety culture, funding for patient safety research, metrics, support for the healthcare workforce, partnering with patients and families for safer care, and the optimization of technology.
The NPSF report notes there are roughly one billion ambulatory care visits and 35 million hospital admissions in the United States each year. Patient safety risks are more substantial in outpatient settings, the group says, as more than half of annual medical malpractice claims stem from events in an outpatient setting.
Said the PIAA’s Atchinson: “There is an increased emphasis on continuous improvement within the healthcare system. We will continue working with the NPSF and other stakeholders . . . to emphasize the longstanding commitment to enhancing the quality of care that exists within the healthcare professional liability community.”
The following links provide more information on the new NPSF report:
Link to executive summary:
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.npsf.org/resource/resmgr/PDF/Freefromharm_ExecSummary.pdf
Link to the eight recommendations:
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.npsf.org/resource/resmgr/PDF/Freefromharm_8Recoms.pdf
Link to full report:
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.npsf.org/resource/resmgr/PDF/Free_from_Harm.pdf