Reducing ‘never events’ and preventable harm

A new article by Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, and J. Matthew Austin, PhD, from Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, highlights how findings from adverse events, serious reportable events, sentinel events, and patient safety events can help play a role in reducing patient harm.

The authors discuss the evolution and data collection of never events, and provide recommendations to improve event tracking and reporting, including:

• standardized definitions of events
• greater transparency of performance and reporting
• mechanisms to share best practices for reducing events.

Access a Joint Commission news release on the article, which is published in the June Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.