Reporting Practice Errors and Improving Patient Safety in Pennsylvania

This article discusses the creation and development of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, emphasizing the importance of reporting patient safety issues. Created as a solution to the twin problems of escalating medical malpractice insurance rates and the surprising number of patients harmed by medical errors, the Authority developed a Web-based system for reporting errors, an award-winning journal for analyzing errors and offering solutions, and educational programs and tools on patient safety. Because of the Authority's work, all Pennsylvania facilities can benefit from a single error in a single Pennsylvania institution.