[New directions of patient safety policy in several foreign countries]

The importance of safety in healthcare has long been recognized, but actual policies and actions to prevent medical errors and improve patient safety have not been developed comprehensively. Retrospective studies based on medical records provide evidence of the extent of adverse events in healthcare services. The new trends in policies for patient safety differ radically from the previous ones in that they emphasize the necessity of reforming the entire healthcare system to make patient safety the first priority. To achieve this it is necessary to establish an adequate information system to collect and analyze data in a timely fashion and distribute the results to stakeholders to encourage "Safety Culture" in healthcare industries.