To improve patient safety, payers such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid have implemented policies that limit reimbursement for certain healthcare-associated harms. This commentary introduces the “Payer Relationships for Improving Diagnoses (PRIDx)” framework describing how payers may implement similar policies to reduce diagnostic errors.

… an important component of diagnostic excellence. Through a systematic review and observations of team dynamics in a hospital medical ward, researchers identified three areas …

… J Health Serv Res Policy … A key aspect of patient safety … and senior leader participants, deciding to report a safety event (referred to as a “voiceable concern”) is … about speaking out in hospitals: A qualitative study. J Health Serv Res Policy. Epub 2022 Jan 3. …

… online open courses (MOOCs) have the ability to reach a broad audience of learners. The Science of Safety in … competence for patient safety among global learners: a prospective cohort study. Nurse Educ Today. 2021;104:104984. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104984. …

… formal organisation in voice about concerns in healthcare: a qualitative interview study. Soc Sci Med. 2021;280:114050. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114050. …

… errors to improve patient safety. … Singh H, Bradford A, Goeschel C. Operational measurement of diagnostic safety: state of the …

This review discusses the importance of teamwork in supporting safety, psychological states driving effective safety performance, organizational- and team-level characteristics impacting safety performance, and the role of teams in safety management.

Preventing health care–associated infections remains a patient safety priority. This multisite study compared rates of central line–associated bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia before and after implementation of a multifaceted intervention. Investigators adopted the comprehensive unit-based safety program, which emphasizes safety culture and includes staff education, identification of safety risks, leadership engagement, and team training. Central line–associated bloodstream infections and surgical site infections initially declined, but rates returned to baseline in the third year. They were unable to measure differences in ventilator-associated pneumonia rates due to a change in the definition. These results demonstrate the challenge of implementing and sustaining evidence-based safety practices in real-world clinical settings. A past PSNet interview discussed infection prevention and patient safety.

… In response to an episode of serious misconduct by a clinician, an academic hospital implemented a structured effort to address disruptive behavior by …

High reliability principles from other high-risk industries are frequently adapted to health care to improve safety. In this qualitative study, researchers found that those working on hospital units with better safety performance tended to use language describing responses to safety issues and errors more consistent with high reliability principles than units with lower safety performance.

… medicine … Crit Care Med … This study aimed to validate a behavioral marker as a measure of teamwork , specifically in the intensive care …

Following a sentinel wrong-patient event, a multidisciplinary quality improvement team worked to enhance the safety of blood transfusion. The authors report significant improvement in protocol adherence following institution of barcoding and auditing via the electronic health record.

… Am Psychol … Teamwork in health care has been embraced as a key element of patient safety. This review summarizes the …

… of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management … J Healthc Risk Manag … The patient safety community continues …

… of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management … J Healthc Risk Manag … Health care executives and board members have a key role in safety improvement. This article describes the development of a tool and framework to assess the impact leadership …

… BMJ Qual Saf … BMJ Qual Saf … A work environment in which all team members feel comfortable speaking up about safety concerns is a key aspect of positive safety culture . Although formal … occurred especially if the concern was based on a general feeling that something might be wrong rather than …

… journal of the American College of Medical Quality … Am J Med Qual … Organizational infrastructure is important to …

… Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf … Jt Comm J Qual Saf … Comprehensive unit-based safety programs have … care settings. The investigators adapted this program for a primary care setting and report that safety culture …

… J Hosp Med … J Hosp Med … The weekend effect refers to worse patient … for staffing , illness severity, and delays in procedures. A recent PSNet interview discussed the weekend effect in …

The need to improve patient safety is an international concern. This commentary discusses the importance of partnership in reaching the overall goals of global patient safety and highlights experiences in Africa that demonstrate how high-income health care systems can learn from low-income hospitals.