Since inception of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority’s reporting system in 2004, the most challenging question asked of the Authority is whether healthcare in Pennsylvania is becoming safer. To complement its efforts toward this goal, in January 2009, the Authority invited patient safety officers (PSOs) from all reporting facilities in Pennsylvania to participate in a survey initiative to measure the level of adoption of selected safety practices. PSOs from 200 of 525 invited facilities completed the survey, including 118 hospitals (59%), 80 ambulatory surgical facilities (40%), 1 birthing center (0.5%), and 1 abortion facility (0.5%).

The thirty-seven safety practices were organized into the domains of leadership (4 practices), medication (11 practices), safe surgery (7 practices), infection control (3 practices), device safety (6 practices), patient identification (2 practices), transition of care (1 practice), environment (1 practice), care management (1 practice), and fall prevention (1 practice). Practices were defined according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Joint Commission, the National Quality Forum, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and associated with specific Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory articles that advocated them.

The aggregate results of adopted safety practices are presented in the document below.