Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act

High school (ages 12+)
Safety & Emergency

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/patient-safety-and-quality-improvement-act

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the year enacted?2005
2. What is the legislative origin?Introduced by Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT)
3. Why do hospitals share safety stories with Patient Safety Organizations?They share them so the organization can look at many stories, find patterns, and suggest ways to stop problems from happening again.
4. How does the law keep safety information secret?It gives special protection called "Patient Safety Work Product" that keeps the data hidden from court cases, so hospitals can report honestly.

Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs): Entities certified to collect, analyze, and aggregate patient safety data to improve healthcare quality.
Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP): Confidential and privileged information collected by PSOs for the purpose of improving patient safety.
Adverse Event: An unintended outcome of medical care that results in harm to a patient.
Near Miss: An event that could have caused harm but did not, due to chance, prevention, or intervention.