Improving patient safety through the systematic evaluation of patient outcomes (December 2012)

Summary

This paper, published by the Canadian Journal of Surgery, suggests that the failure to systematically measure patient safety is the reason for limited progress. In addition to defining patient safety outcomes and describing their financial and clinical impact, the authors argue why the failure to implement patient safety measurement systems has compromised the ability to move the agenda forward. They also present an overview of how patient safety can be assessed and the strengths and weaknesses of each method and comment on some of the consequences created by the absence of a systematic measurement system.