Examining the Relationship of an All-Cause Harm Patient Safety Measure and Critical Performance Measures at the Frontline of Care. Issue 1 (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sammer, Christine; Hauck, Loran D.; Jones, Cason; Zaiback-Aldinger, Julie; Li, Michael; Classen, David
• Is Part Of: Journal of patient safety. Volume 16:Issue 1(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: patient safety -- all cause harm -- safety culture -- employee engagement -- patient experience -- harm measurement -- policy implications; Patients -- Safety measures -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Practice -- Safety measures -- Periodicals; Medical errors -- Prevention -- Periodicals; 610.289
• DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000468
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1549-8417

Abstract

Abstract : Background: In 2015, the Institute of Medicine Vital Signs report called for a new patient safety composite measure to lessen the reporting burden of patient harm. Before this report, two patient safety organizations had developed an electronic all-cause harm measurement system leveraging data from the electronic health record, which identified and grouped harms into five broad categories and consolidated them into one all-cause harm outcome measure. Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between this all-cause harm patient safety measure and the following three performance measures important to overall hospital safety performance: safety culture, employee engagement, and patient experience. Methods: We studied the relationship between all-cause harm and three performance measures on eight inpatient care units at one hospital for 7 months. Results: The findings demonstrated strong correlations between an all-cause harm measure and patient safety culture, employee engagement, and patient experience at the hospital unit level. Four safety culture domains showed significant negative correlations with all-cause harm at a P value of 0.05 or less. Six employee engagement domains were significantly negatively correlated with all-cause harm at a P value of 0.01 or less, and six of the ten patient experience measures were significantly correlated with all-cause harm at a P value of 0.05 or less. Conclusions: The results show that there is a strong relationship between all-cause harm and these performance measures indicating that when there is a positive patient safety culture, a more engaged employee, and a more satisfying patient experience, there may be less all-cause harm.