Patient Safety Authority Sets Education Goals
The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PSA) plans to increase its focus on education and collaboration, it said in its 2007 annual report.
PSA plans to:
- Educate hospital trustees about their role in promoting patient safety
- Create a confidential online forum for patient safety officers to discuss patient safety programs and share tips on improving safety
- Create a patient safety liaison pilot program that will offer health care facilities onsite education and quality improvement assistance
- Hire a director of educational programs to oversee the authority’s education and training programs and develop educational materials
- Identify training and educational activities on reducing and eliminating health care-associated infections
PSA also plans to improve the consistency of reports received through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System because there is a variation in the number of reports submitted by health care facilities.
PSA attributes the inconsistency to different interpretations of what is reportable under Act 13 and plans to work with the Department of Health to offer facilities more guidance on what needs to be reported, said Mike Doering, executive director of PSA.
“If events aren’t reported, we may be missing opportunities to share information that could help to prevent similar events from happening in other facilities,” Doering said.
To view the full report, visit the PSA website.
Last Updated: 5/9/2008