Patient safety in the obstetric and gynecologic office setting

The modern patient safety movement began around 2000, when attention was drawn to error-related hospital mortality by the Institute of Medicine. Several years later the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists addressed safety issues in office practice, in recognition of the migration of increasingly complex surgical procedures to the office setting. Efforts begun in 2008 resulted in development of a program for safety certification of ob/gyn offices. Elements of the program are described, with recommendations on how they can be incorporated into standard office practice to reduce the chances of patient harm caused by errors or other adverse events.