Patient Safety Organization
In response to rising health care costs and increasing concerns about the quality of health care delivery in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services instituted the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 to encourage health care providers to share outcome and patient safety data without fear of reprisal.
The Final Rule of this Act, which took effect in November 2008, established an implementation mechanism known as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO), through which the objectives of the Patient Safety Act could be achieved. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was designated to administer the provisions of the Patient Safety Act and oversee the approval and operations of PSOs.
The USACS Patient Safety Organization was approved by the AHRQ in April 2012 to demonstrate its commitment to patient safety and quality. It will allow further expansion opportunities to identify best practices in emergency, hospital and observation medicine management.
It is the vision of the Patient Safety Organization to change the landscape of patient safety by implementing innovative surveillance and performance improvement initiatives that will improve the safety and quality of care delivery. By providing a blame-free culture that promotes patient safety and improved quality of care, we will help providers learn from one another, ensure best practices are swiftly implemented, and foster a culture of safety among clinicians who celebrate ongoing open communication toward advances in sustaining high quality health care delivery.
View our hospital management case studies to learn more about USACS' commitment to improving hospital systems across the country.