Rhode Island lawmakers have approved patient-safety legislation that would create a database for voluntary reporting of medical errors by healthcare providers and insurance companies, to compliment existing reporting requirements. The legislation would also establish a 14-member care-advisory committee to review the database findings and create quality-improvement strategies.
Under this legislation, hospitals, nursing homes, health insurers and various reporting agencies would pay an annual surcharge to fund the Patient Safety Organization, which would be responsible for carrying out the initiative’s goals.
Rhode Island law already requires mandatory reporting of medical errors by healthcare facilities.
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Modern Healthcare reports that Gov. Donald Carcieri has signed the Rhode Island Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2008, creating a patient-safety organization, or PSO, that will work to reduce preventable medical errors, according to a new release.
The PSO, which will function under the state health department, will establish specific patient-safety goals and will be authorized to investigate medical-error reports submitted by healthcare facilities, providers and payers. The organization will also issue annual reports on patient-safety initiatives and meet with hospital administrators and clinicians to address safety concerns.
Though Rhode Island already requires mandatory reporting of medical errors by healthcare facilities, the new PSO is designed to encourage providers and insurers to voluntarily and confidentially report incidents, according to the release. PSO funding will come through a patient-safety surcharge shared by hospitals, nursing homes, insurers and other reporting agencies. The organization’s annual budget will be capped at $600,000