PATIENT SAFETY Wins Apex Award For Excellence In Publishing

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For reimagining its publication Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory into a scientific journal with a patient's perspective called PATIENT SAFETY, the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) has won a national Apex Award for excellence in communications. It received a 'grand' award in the 'most improved' category for shifting its quarterly, peer-reviewed journal geared towards healthcare workers into one designed for both clinicians and consumers. The redesign was completed in 15 months.

PATIENT SAFETY is the only journal that highlights the intersection of patient safety science and real human experience. The mix of content includes first-person narratives, commentaries, interviews, original research, and a humanities section. Each article is custom-designed to fully immerse the reader, using carefully curated photography, brightly colored tables, artwork, and illustrations, as well as infographics and pull-out quotes. The goal is to connect providers and patients by humanizing the issue of medical error and presenting it in a highly visual, graphically appealing way.

No other healthcare journal takes this approach. 

The final issue of the Advisory, published in March 2019, had an audience of 4,500 readers in 44 countries. The most recent issue of PATIENT SAFETY, published in June 2020, was read by more than 25,000 people spanning all 50 states and 147 countries. 

"We asked how we could make a significant contribution to scientific publishing and create a tool that bridges the gap between theory and practice—one that brings the patient's perspective to the forefront," explained Regina Hoffman, executive director of the PSA and editor of PATIENT SAFETY. "At the same time, we saw an opportunity to help patients find their voice in academic publishing while elevating our research quality."

PATIENT SAFETY has been designated a Patients Included™ publication, which requires at least two patient members on the editorial board; regular publication of editorials, reviews, or research articles authored by patients; and peer review by patients.

Established under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act of 2002, the PSA, an independent state agency, collects and analyzes patient safety data to improve safety outcomes and help prevent patient harm.  http://patientsafety.pa.gov/

SOURCE Patient Safety Authority