Implementation of patient safety monitoring systems in hospitals: a systematic review

The significance of patient safety has been acknowledged in healthcare systems, prompting the need for effective patient safety monitoring systems (PSMSs). These systems' endeavour is to manage patient safety data and improve overall safety within healthcare organisations. This study aims to characterise the implementation of and outputs of such systems across hospital settings.

A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The review included a comprehensive search of databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar for studies published in English up to 30 July 2024. The focus was on monitoring systems that manage patient safety in medical care, with inclusion criteria that required studies to examine the application of PSMSs and report their implementation outputs.

The literature search yielded 23 relevant studies published between 2009 and 2023. PSMSs were used in various clinical contexts, including emergency departments, radiology wards, intensive care units and operating rooms, addressing various issues such as medication safety, healthcare-associated infections, blood transfusion errors, surgical site infections, laboratory and radiology adverse events. The findings indicated positive outputs from the implementation of PSMSs. Furthermore, these systems provide valuable information and timely alerts and contribute to a culture of safety in healthcare facilities.

PSMSs can be used for enhancing safety practices, reducing adverse events and promoting a culture of patient safety. Further research and continued implementation of PSMSs are essential to further augment patient safety standards in healthcare settings.