What’s a Patient Safety Organization?

A recent study by the Society of Actuaries revealed that 7 percent of hospital admissions result in medical injury. They estimated that each year in the U.S., 1.5 million of these injuries were associated with medical errors.

Aside from the physical toll on patients, this can cause significant strain to a healthcare organization’s bottom line. The study showed that the average medical error results in a $13,000 loss.

Although healthcare organizations are not unaware of such medical occurrences, they have been legitimately wary to reach outside their organization for help because of the fear of being exposed to lawsuits.

Fortunately, in 2005 Congress passed the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act, authorizing the creation of Patient Safety Organizations to improve quality and patient safety by reducing the incidence of events that harm patients.

PSOs act as a safe harbor of legal protection to participating healthcare organizations, providing legal privilege and confidentiality protections to information that is assembled and reported for the conduct of patient safety activities. Learn More →