The National Quality Forum is aiming to modernize and standardize serious adverse event reporting via a new patient safety effort.
Through the "Focus on HARM" initiative, NQF will update the criteria for what constitutes a serious reportable event, or "never event," to better reflect today's diverse range of care settings. The organization, an affiliate of The Joint Commission, will also work to align reporting standards nationwide.
NQF first created its serious reportable event list in 2002, which national and state-based reporting systems use to increase accountability and improve safety. At present, 28 states and Washington, D.C., rely on the resource for accountability reporting.
"The lack of reliable, consistent, objective data standards related to measuring patient safety events limits our ability to quantify the magnitude of the problem and track our progress as we mitigate avoidable patient harm," NQF President and CEO Dana Gelb Safran said in an April 4 news release. "This work represents a critical and overdue step needed to enable systematic measurement, tracking, and improvement as we continue national efforts to make healthcare safe for every patient, every time, in every setting."
Learn more here.