HARRISBURG: The Patient Safety Authority today initiated the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS, pronounced “PAY-sirs”), the first such statewide mandatory reporting system in the country.

Twenty-two healthcare facilities volunteered to participate in Phase One of the PA-PSRS program, representing large health systems, academic medical centers, community hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities and rural hospitals. The facilities are located in 19 different counties in all regions of the Commonwealth.

“I am pleased that a variety of facilities from around the state volunteered to bepart of this program from the very beginning,” said Dr. Robert Muscalus, Pennsylvania’s Physician General and chair of the Authority’s board of directors. “By participating in the initial phase, these facilities are not only providing valuable feedback to help us improve the program before it is rolled out statewide early next year, but they are demonstrating their commitment to reduce medical errors and promote patient safety within their individual facilities.”

The Patient Safety Authority is an independent state agency created by Act 13 of 2002, the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (“Mcare”) Act, to help reduce and eliminate medical errors by identifying problems and recommending solutions that promote patient safety. Under the Act, all Pennsylvania-licensed hospitals, birthing centers and ambulatory surgical facilities are required to report what the Act defines as “serious” events and “incidents” to the Authority.

PA-PSRS is a secure, web-based system developed for the Authority under contract with ECRI, a Pennsylvania-based independent, non-profit health services research agency, in partnership with EDS, a leading international, information technology firm, and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), also a Pennsylvania-based, non-profit health research organization. During Phase One, participating facilities will test the system’s information technology infrastructure as well as the accuracy and ease of use of the clinical components. Once it has become mandatory statewide, the PAPSRS program will receive and tabulate reports submitted by almost 400 facilities and
analyze that data to identify trends and suggest improvements to enhance patient safety. All information submitted through PA-PSRS is confidential, and no information about individual facilities or providers will be made public.

“Because the Authority’s role is non-regulatory,” Muscalus noted, “we are committed to implementing a system that will help facilities enhance their internal patient safety and quality improvement activities.”

In initiating PA-PSRS, the Authority has worked with provider organizations and other stakeholder groups to solicit input about the system’s development.

“We believe that this new reporting system will lead to further improvements in care for the patients who depend on Pennsylvania’s hospitals for high-quality, safe hospital care,” said Carolyn F. Scanlan, president and CEO of The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

Act 13 requires that the Department of Health also utilize the PA-PSRS system. The Authority has worked closely with that agency to assure that their requirements are appropriately met. Although the Department of Health will not receive reports through PA-PSRS during Phase One, they will begin receiving reports of serious events once PAPSRS is implemented statewide.

For additional information about the Patient Safety Authority or the PA-PSRS program, visit its website at www.patientsafetyauthority.org.

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*Editor’s Note: Attached are the 22 healthcare facilities participating in Phase One of the PA-PSRS project.

Facilities participating in PA-PSRS Phase One Hospitals

UPMC Passavant (Pittsburgh, Allegheny County)
Robert Packer Hospital (Sayre, Bradford County)
Reading Hospital & Medical Center (Reading, Berks County)
St. Mary Medical Center (Langhorne, Bucks County)
Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital (Lehighton, Carbon County)
Paoli Memorial Hospital (Paoli, Chester County)
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, Dauphin County)
Saint Vincent Health Center (Erie, Erie County)
Lancaster Regional Medical Center (Lancaster, Lancaster County)
Lehigh Valley Hospital (Allentown, Lehigh County)
Geisinger Health System (Danville, Montour County)
Muncy Valley Hospital (Muncy, Lycoming County)
Abington Memorial Hospital (Abington, Montgomery County)
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Philadelphia County)
Warren General Hospital (Warren, Warren County)
Canonsburg General Hospital (Canonsburg, Washington County)
Wayne Memorial Hospital (Honesdale, Wayne County)
Westmoreland Regional Hospital (Greensburg, Westmoreland County)
Behavioral Health Hospitals
Divine Providence Hospital (Williamsport, Lycoming County)
Ambulatory Surgical Facilities
Ophthalmology Surgery Center (Harrisburg, Dauphin County)
Lebanon Outpatient Surgical Center, LP (Lebanon, Lebanon County)
Exeter Surgery Center (Reading, Berks County)