The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement act of 2005
How does the PSQIA catalyze sharing of healthcare data,
information and patient safety practices between health care organizations?
Is the legislative act/framework for data sharing sufficient to promote a
sustainable, patient-safety healthcare culture, why/not?
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement act of 2005
(Patient Safety Act), was created as a result of the landmark report “To Err is
Human: Building a Safer Health System” published by the institute of Medicine.
The basis of which the act was created is to ensure safety reporting of patient
information to identify adverse events and improved quality of health. The act
encourages voluntary provider driven initiatives to work closely with Patient
Safety Organizations (PSO’s) to analyze data and reduce care risks and protect
data confidentiality concerns. Moreover, the Department of Health and Human
Services issues the Patient Safety Rule, which established confidentially
provisions and enforcement procedures for violations (Wager, Wickham Lee, &
Glasser, 2013, p. 80).
Patient Safety Act encourages a reliable and safe way to
report medical errors. Coordination between PSO’s and physicians is required to
generate quality improvement. Under this ACT the PSO’s are considered business
associates and thus according to HIPAA guidelines share mutual liability should
a breach occur. In turn shared liability should develop a higher level of trust
between physicians and PSO’s. Moreover, an increased level of trust should
increase the number of physicians volunteering in reporting medical errors. The
system of reporting is set up to develop a high level of trust between
physician and PSO’s which has the potential to increase reporting and can be
sustainable system to improve quality of care. Sharing secured data and
providing feedback to providers should enhance reduction of medical errors
nationwide. However, Carlwight-Smith, Rosenbaum, & Sochacki (2010), argue
that there are 2 potential flaws in this system.
·
Designating information as a PSWP.
·
Not required to provide actual quality improved
and safety output (Carlwight-Smith, Rosenbaum, & Sochacki, 2010).
They go on to argue that legal privilege also plays a major
role in provider participation, and since participation is confidential it
makes it difficult to assess metrics.
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act, serves as a
method for physicians to report medical errors they otherwise would not report.
This data has the potential to aid in process improvements and improved quality
of care. Although legal privilege plays a factor in increased reporting, it is
beneficial to get the data needed to compare data on medical errors that can
later be used to share with physicians. This data can be used to improve
quality of care and reduce harm to patients.
References:
Carlwight-Smith, L., Rosenbaum, S., & Sochacki, C.
(2010) The patient safety and quality improvement act regulations: implications
for health information access and exchange. Aligning Forces for Quality, (2).
Retrieved from: https://folio.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/10244/819/62608.pdf?sequence=1
Wager, K., Wickham Lee, F., & Glasser, J. (2013) Health
Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Care Management. (3rd
ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
