Developing a patient safety plan

Many healthcare organizations are focused on the development of a strategic plan to enhance patient safety. The challenge is creating a plan that focuses on patient safety outcomes, integrating the multitude of internal and external drivers of patient safety, aligning improvement initiatives to create synergy and providing a framework for meaningful measurement of intermediate and long-term results while remaining consistent with an organizational mission, vision and strategic goals. This strategy-focused approach recognizes that patient safety initiatives completed in isolation will not provide consistent progress toward a goal, and that a balanced approach is required that includes the development and systematic execution of bundles of related initiatives. This article outlines the process used by Hamilton Health Sciences in adopting Kaplan and Norton's strategy map methodology underpinned by their balanced scorecard framework to create a comprehensive multi-year plan for patient safety that integrates best practice literature from patient safety, quality and organizational development.