Using patient safety organizations to further clinical integration

This article addresses why in the current context of driving toward improved value, physician groups ought to consider developing a patient safety evaluation system and reporting to a patient safety organization. The fundamental challenge to physicians to succeed in the future is to clinically integrate within their own practices, standardizing to the evidence base, and measuring their performance. In addition, it is increasingly clear that the physician office practice is a source of patient safety issues. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act provides two powerful protections for data that will support and bolster clinical integration and patient safety. The protections and how to deploy them are presented.