Calls grow for National Patient Safety Board: 3 leaders weigh in (Becker's Hospital Review, 18 August 2023)

Summary

Increasing adverse events, hospital-associated infections, and other harm to patients have compounded and now fuel the call for the formation of a national patient safety board in the USA. But, with so many established health entities already within the government, will adding one create more complexities than it will oversight?

A bill introduced in the House in December 2022 proposes such a body loosely modelled off the National Transportation Safety Board. The group behind the efforts for the board's creation note in a document that it still would not be the "sole solution" needed to properly address patient safety issues nationally, but rather is designed to "augment" the work of other federal agencies and patient safety organisations. 

The bill proposes that it would not be necessary to identify providers in reports that the board would investigate, and some patient safety experts say this is not the right approach, noting that it would not provide the accountability necessary — particularly since the board would be nonpunitive to begin with. But others argue that this structure could help promote voluntary reporting for more data collection. 

Three patient safety professionals shared their takes in Becker's Hospital Review.