The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has issued a final rule for Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs), which becomes effective on Jan. 19, 2009. It provides final requirements and procedures for PSOs, new entities with which clinicians and healthcare providers can work to collect, aggregate, and analyze data within a legally secure environment of privilege and confidentiality protections to identify and reduce patient care risks and hazards.
Under interim guidance issued on Oct. 8, the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality has already listed 15 PSOs. During the remainder of the interim period, these organizations will maintain their status as PSOs. However, these and other PSOs listed throughout the interim period are expected to comply with the final rule once it takes effect.
The listing of PSOs is authorized by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act). The Patient Safety Act is intended to encourage voluntary, provider-driven initiatives to improve the safety of health care through the establishment of legal protections to ensure that providers who report patient safety information do not incur new legal liability; to promote rapid learning about the underlying causes of risks and harms in the delivery of health care; and to share those findings widely, thus speeding the pace of improvement.
Read the final rule.
