Whereas patient safety is the freedom from accidental
injury due to medical care or medical errors and is vital to high quality
medical care;
Whereas the landmark 1999 Institute of Medicine study
To Err is Human
helped launch the patient safety movement by
reporting that medical errors lead to the deaths of as many as 98,000 people
each year and that medical errors relating to hospitalization cost between
$17,000,000,000 and $29,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas the Nation has made important progress in raising
patient safety awareness since the release of such study, including developing
reporting systems and establishing national data collection standards;
Whereas the National Patient Safety Foundation has
recognized, endorsed, and encouraged the celebration of Patient Safety
Awareness Week since the week was first established in 2002, to bring attention
to the issue of medical error and to engage providers, patients, and
communities in efforts to improve the safety of healthcare in America;
Whereas, each year since 2003, the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality has published the National Healthcare Quality Report built
on more than 200 measures categorized across four dimensions of quality,
including patient safety;
Whereas, in 2004, the World Health Organization formed the
World Alliance for Patient Safety which aims to coordinate, disseminate, and
accelerate improvements in patient safety worldwide;
Whereas the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act was
signed into law on July 29, 2005, to improve patient safety by encouraging
voluntary and confidential reporting of events that adversely affect
patients;
Whereas there are now 80 Patient Safety Organizations
nationwide listed by the Department of Health and Human Services;
Whereas the number of States with medical error reporting
systems has nearly doubled since 2000, with 27 States now requiring hospitals
to report the occurrence of never events
, or those adverse
events that are serious and largely preventable;
Whereas the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid initiated
its hospital-acquired condition policy in 2008, refusing to cover the costs of
conditions that were acquired in the hospital and that could reasonably have
been prevented, marking the first use of the payment system to promote patient
safety;
Whereas the goal of patient safety is yet to be fully
achieved, and still merits urgent attention
, according to the
2009 National Healthcare Quality Report;
Whereas the 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report found
that approximately 1 out of 7 adult hospitalized Medicare patients experienced
1 or more adverse events;
Whereas infections acquired during hospital care are
serious patient safety concerns, and among the most common complications of
hospital care;
Whereas research has demonstrated that hospital-acquired
infections and medical errors can be reduced and that lives can be saved
through the appropriate timing of antibiotic delivery among surgical patients,
the proper placement of central venous catheters, the establishment of a
culture of safety, and other practical interventions, such as the use of
checklists;
Whereas healthcare providers are committed to a
collaborative, meaningful, long-term approach to ensure greater patient safety
in the delivery of healthcare in our Nation and to continually advancing
efforts to improve patient safety through the development and promotion of
communication tools for safer healthcare and the use of quality measures based
on evidence-based guidelines;
Whereas the goals and ideals of Patient Safety Awareness
Week are to focus attention on the need to improve the safety of medical care,
recognize the safety innovations generated by frontline medical staff,
celebrate patient safety successes, encourage the medical community to adopt
best practices that increase patient safety, encourage patients to learn
approaches to improve the safety of their healthcare, promote research to
identify effective solutions to patient safety-related problems, and to
acknowledge those individuals who have dedicated their time and talent to help
promote patient safety; and
Whereas the patient safety community recognizes and
celebrates National Patient Safety Awareness Week during the second week in
March every calendar year: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
(1)supports the goals
and ideals of National Patient Safety Awareness Week;
(2)encourages the
President to issue a proclamation in support of the goals and ideals of
National Patient Safety Awareness Week;
(3)encourages States,
localities territories, and possessions of the United States to support the
goals and ideals of National Patient Safety Awareness Week by issuing
proclamations designating National Patient Safety Awareness Week;
(4)encourages the continuation and
acceleration of private sector efforts to take immediate steps to improve
patient safety and recognizes the need for action in the public sector to
complement these efforts; and
(5)recognizes and
reaffirms the Nation’s commitment to promoting patient safety through education
programs, supporting research, and expanding access to safe medical
treatment.