Patient safety: the search for global solutions

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Global Health Policy

Background:

• Growing concerns regarding patient safety led to the World Health Assembly's Resolution 55.18 in 2002.
• This resolution initiated the World Alliance for Patient Safety.
• The World Health Organization designated The Joint Commission and Joint Commission International as its Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety Solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the experience of the Collaborating Centre in establishing an international infrastructure.
• To outline the process for collaboratively setting patient safety solution priorities.
• To detail the development of specific patient safety solutions.

Main Methods:

• Establishing an international infrastructure for collaboration.
• Collaborative prioritization of patient safety solution needs.
• Elaboration and summarization of initial patient safety solutions.

Main Results:

• An international infrastructure was successfully created to support patient safety efforts.
• Priorities for patient safety solutions were collaboratively set.
• Nine initial patient safety solutions addressing key problems were developed and summarized.

Conclusions:

• The Collaborating Centre effectively developed an international framework for advancing patient safety.
• The established infrastructure facilitates global cooperation in identifying and implementing patient safety solutions.
• The initial nine solutions represent a foundational step in addressing critical patient safety challenges.