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All Pennsylvania-licensed hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, and birthing centers are now required to report medical errors and near-misses to a state agency.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, June 29, 2004

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All Pennsylvania-licensed hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, and birthing centers are now required to report medical errors and near-misses through the state's Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS), making Pennsylvania the first state in the nation to require the reporting of actual events and near-misses.

More than 400 healthcare facilities are subject to the reporting requirements, which stem from legislation passed in 2002. Organizations submit the information confidentially through PA-PSRS to the Patient Safety Authority, an independent state agency responsible for improving patient safety.

The Authority analyzes reports that providers submit through the PA-PSRS system to identify trends among facilities and recommend improvements. It will make aggregate data available to the public but will not release facility-specific data. Individual facilities, however, can generate reports specific to their organization and use them to identify areas that need improvement. Facilities were required to begin reporting the information on June 7.

"For many facilities, this is the first time they have access to an electronic system to track events in their facility," says Robert Muscalus, MD, Pennsylvania's physician general and chair of the Authority's board of directors.

When reporting an event, a facility must answer a variety of questions about the circumstances surrounding it, including the level of actual or potential harm to the patient as well as such factors as staffing or equipment problems that may have contributed to the occurrence.

In other Pennsylvania news, the House unanimously passed a bill that will grant protections and confidentiality to anyone with privileges at a hospital who reports a medical error or a situation in which patient safety is compromised. The measure now goes to the state Senate.

Meanwhile, Florida's Gov. Jeb Bush signed legislation this month that will create the "Florida Patient Safety Corp.," an organization that will study ways to reduce medical errors. The new law also requires hospitals to provide information about pricing and performance and goes into effect July 1.

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