FAQ

The Patient Safety Act authorizes AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) to list or designate entities as Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) that attest to having expertise in identifying the causes of, and interventions to reduce the risk of, threats to the quality and safety of patient care. The work of a PSO is not directed by AHRQ. PSOs essentially serve as contractors to providers and a PSO’s activities for a provider are usually determined by the Patient Safety Act contract entered into by the parties.

The Patient Safety Act establishes criteria for an entity or a component of an entity (component organization) to seek listing as a PSO by AHRQ. The primary activity of an entity or component organization seeking to be listed as a PSO must be to conduct activities to improve patient safety and health care quality. A PSO's workforce must have expertise in analyzing patient safety events, such as the identification, analysis, prevention, and reduction or elimination of the risks and hazards associated with the delivery of patient care.

And more information is available here.

More information can be reviewed at this link.

https://www.pso.ahrq.gov/faq#WhatisaPSO

Protected information can be obtained, analyzed and aggregated to develop insights into the root causes of pataient safety events – near misses, adverse events, unsafe conditions. This data will be a valuable resource to make positive improvements in patient safety.

Patient safety information can be aggregated to inform about trends, which can measure efficacy of safety initiatives.

• Improve patient safety and the quality of health care delivery
• The collection and analysis of patient safety work product (PSWP)
• The development and dissemination of information regarding patient safety, such as recommendations, protocols, or information regarding best practices
• The utilization of PSWP for the purposes of encouraging a culture of safety as well as providing feedback and assistance to effectively minimize patient risk
• The maintenance of procedures to preserve confidentiality with respect to PSWP
• The provision of appropriate security measures with respect to PSWP
• The utilization of qualified staff
• Activities related to the operation of a patient safety evaluation system and to the provision of feedback to participants in a patient safety evaluation system

The term "safety" refers to reducing risk from harm and injury, while the term "quality" suggests striving for excellence and value. By addressing common, preventable adverse events, a health care setting can become safer, thereby enhancing the quality of care delivered. PSOs create a secure environment where clinicians and health care organizations can collect, aggregate, and analyze data, thus identifying and reducing the risks and hazards associated with patient care and improving quality.

PSWP is the information captured in the reporting tool, which protected by the privilege and confidentiality protections of the Patient Safety Act and Patient Safety Rule. PSWP may identify the providers involved in a patient safety event and/or a provider employee that reported the information about the patient safety event.

The DPSF is an independent, multi-disciplinary Patient Safety Organization whose purpose is to improve safety and quality of dental care. Integral to this mission are the non-partison data collection and analyses, with subsequent reporting, education and advocacy to all dental professionals. In this endeavor, the creation and ongoing support of a meaningful culture of safey will be promoted.

Robert C. Bosack DDS, Chair
Michael Rollert DDS, Vice Chair
Stuart Lieblich DMD, Secretary Treasurer
Roy Stevens DDS
Jason Brady DMD

Elsbeth Kalenderian, DDS, MPH, PhD
Muhammad F. Walji, PhD
Kristen Miller, DrPH
Paul Niklewski, PhD
Clyde Waggoner, DDS

The consulting committee consists of appointees chosen by those dental organizations who elect to participate and support this safety endeavor. Each member will comprise a part of a team to analyze data – Patient Safety Work Product. The members are requested to function as an important liason to their respective organizations.

The DPSF is a non-profit organization that is 100% dependent on financial support from organizations or related businesses wishing to make charitable donations.

The model for this foundation is the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) (www.apsf.org) which is an independent, non-partisan, apolitical, multi-disciplinary organization created expressly to avoid preventable adverse clinical outcomes in anesthesia. All anesthesia providers despite disparate political agendas, all national anesthesia societies, and corporate sponsors support this foundation. It is an umbrella organization that has been recognized as the leading advocate for patient safety in anesthesia. Although societies such as the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology (ADSA), and the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists (ASDA) are sponsors of the APSF, most of the issues addressed are not pertinent to most dentists. Therefore, creating a dental specific safety foundation targeting our unique clinical issues is needed.

Any licensed dental or medical care provider may report a patient safety event

All information is protected by governmental regulations from discovery in a court of law. The DPSF will only be reporting de-identified information.