ABSTRACT: Why Don’t We Know Whether Care Is Safe?
Abstract
Reliable data are essential to ensuring that health care is delivered safely and appropriately. Yet the availability of reliable data on safety remains surprisingly poor, as does our knowledge of what it costs (and should cost) to generate such data. The authors suggest the following as priorities: (1) develop valid and reliable measures of the common causes of preventable deaths; (2) evaluate whether a global measure of safety is valid, feasible, and useful; (3) explore the incremental value of collecting data for each patient safety measure; (4) evaluate if/how patient safety reporting systems can be used to influence outcomes at all levels; (5) explore the value—and the unintended consequences—of creating a list of reportable events; (6) evaluate the infrastructure required to monitor patient safety; and (7) explore the validity and usefulness of measurements of patient safety climate.
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Brian is a research scientist and educational technologist. He helped transform Pfizer’s Medical Education Group and previously served in educational leadership roles at HealthAnswers, Inc.; Acumentis, LLC.; Cephalon; and Wyeth. He taught graduate medical education programs at Arcadia University for 10 years. Dr. McGowan recently authored the book "#socialQI: Simple Solutions for Improving Your Healthcare" and has been invited to speak internationally on the subject of information flow, technology, and learning in healthcare.
