What is a PSO? – Congress established Patient Safety Organizations (PSO) in passing the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA).
What is the Purpose of a PSO?
- Encourage a culture of safety and quality in healthcare by creating a safe harbor in which reporting and analyzing information is insulated from liability or harm to professional reputation.
- Ensure accountability by raising standards and expectations for continuous quality improvements in patient safety.
What Does Working with a PSO Provide?
- Privilege– With limited exceptions, the Act places “Patient Safety Work Product” beyond the reach of federal and state courts and administrative bodies, even if subpoenaed.
- Confidentiality– The Act places a burden upon providers and others not to disclose “Patient Safety Work Product,” absent a permissible disclosure, and imposes penalties for doing so.
Why Should I Participate with a PSO?
- Health Reform Requirement – All hospitals over 50 beds must maintain a Patient Safety Evaluation System by 2015 to participate in the state insurance.
- Improved Patient Safety– Encourages a culture of safety and quality throughout the health care system by raising standards and expectations for continuous quality improvement in the practice of evidence-based medicine.
- Greater Efficiency– Providers can share risk information to accelerate identification of patient safety trends and accelerate the speed with which solutions can be identified and best practices adopted.
- Prevention – By sharing quality data, a PSO will be able to identify patterns that could suggest underlying or systemic causes of patient risks and hazards to prevent their future occurrence and improve patient safety.
- Peer Review Protections– All licensed providers are covered by federal peer review protections.