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 The Quality Alliance Patient Safety Organization, part of the
Midwest Healthcare Quality Alliance, received the designation from
theAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality effective on Oct. 16.
“We are excited to bring this new venture to central Illinois as a
vehicle for innovation in advancing health-care quality and safety,”
said Charles Callahan, co-executive director of the Midwest
Healthcare Quality Alliance and executive vice president and chief
operating officer for Memorial Health System. “This patient safety
organization is unique in the way it promotes collaboration among
aligned organizations seeking to dramatically improve patient care
across the region.”
Patient safety organizations (PSOs) primarily focus on improving
patient safety and health-care quality. PSOs encourage clinicians
and health-care organizations to voluntarily report adverse patient
events so the data from these incidents can be analyzed to prevent
them from happening in the future.
The Quality Alliance Patient Safety Organization will seek a mix of
all types of health-care providers from central Illinois to
participate, said Carol Hafley, the PSO’s system director. They can
include hospitals, ambulance services, long-term care facilities and
physicians’ offices.
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Congress developed and enacted the Patient Safety and Quality
Improvement Act of 2005 in response to the Institute of Medicine
report, To Err is Human, which sparked national concern over the
number of preventable medical errors that were occurring, according
to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Only 84 patient safety organizations in 31 states and the District
of Columbia are currently recognized by the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality.
The Midwest Healthcare Quality Alliance is a partnership between
Memorial Health System and Southern Illinois University HealthCare,
launched in January 2014.
[Michael Leathers, Memorial Health
System]
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