Patient Safety Authority Releases Its 2018 Annual Report

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Patient Safety Authority (Authority), whose mission is to improve the quality of healthcare in Pennsylvania by collecting and analyzing patient safety information, developing solutions, and providing education today released its 2018 Annual Report .

The report's quick-read format and dynamic graphs highlight the Authority's 2017–2020 key strategic initiatives: (1) diagnostic excellence; (2) focus on the patient; (3) long-term care; and (4) event reporting.

A significant 2018 achievement is the creation of the Center of Excellence for Improving Diagnosis (CoE) to improve diagnostic process, raise awareness, and share improvement strategies.

Engaging citizens in a dialogue about patient safety remains another top priority achieved through public health fairs, patient surveys, and community representation on the Authority's board of directors.

The Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative's 14.24% process and outcome improvement related to antibiotic orders for urinary tract infections in Nursing Homes is also a notable success.

One of the Authority's primary goals is capturing every occurrence of harm or potential harm, whether or not a medical error occurred.  Since its inception in 2004 more than 3.6 million patient safety reports have been added to the Authority's proprietary database the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS), which is the largest repository of its kind in the U.S.  The Authority's Patient Safety Liaisons educate frontline care teams to recognize patient safety events and report them.  In 2018 event reporting increased by 4.6%, which aided improvements in patient safety protocols.

Authority-sponsored educational programs reached 11,000 healthcare professionals through presentations, webinars, the online educational portal and in-facility workshops.  The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Summit hosted 142 organizations and healthcare workers representing 11 institutions received the "I AM Patient Safety" award.

A key tool for catalyzing the Authority's mission is the quarterly peer-reviewed Patient Safety Advisory  distributed to over 4,500 readers (12% increase), in 48 states (9% increase) and 44 countries (33% increase).  The journal highlights patient safety trends, shares strategies for improving processes and alerts readers to immediate dangers.

Established under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act of 2002 the Authority, an independent state agency, collects and analyzes patient safety data to improve safety outcomes and help prevent patient harm.  The Authority's annual report is published every year.

For more information, please visit http://patientsafety.pa.gov/

SOURCE Patient Safety Authority