A Multisite Assessment of Inpatient Safety Event Rates During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality
• Patient Safety
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Limited data exists on hospital quality outcomes and patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Existing data for public rankings typically lags by 2-5 years.
• Healthcare systems prioritized patient care over reporting and research during the pandemic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient safety event rates.
• To analyze trends in hospital quality outcomes during the pandemic.
• To investigate the relationship between healthcare worker absences and patient safety.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, exploratory analysis was conducted.
• Data was collected over a 2-year period (January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021).
• The study included 3 large US academic medical centers.

Main Results:

• An overall rate of 25.8 safety events per 1000 inpatient days was documented.
• The rate of events causing harm was 12.4 per 1000 inpatient days.
• Increasing healthcare worker absences showed a strong, nonlinear association with patient safety event rates.

Conclusions:

• Patient safety event rates did not significantly increase at the studied institutions during the pandemic.
• Healthcare worker absences emerged as a critical factor potentially influencing patient safety.
• Further widespread investigations are needed to understand these associations in other US hospitals.