Preventable errors are estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system approximately $187.5 billion to $250 billion annually. (1) Establishing an effective patient safety framework can decrease preventable errors and improve patient outcomes while reducing costs. In recent years, healthcare organizations have begun placing focus on reforming organizational culture in order to maximize patient safety.

Preventing healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) is an important goal for any healthcare organization to improve patient safety. A healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) is an infection that a patient contracts while receiving treatment for another medical or surgical condition. (1) 

The term “near miss” or “good catch” is used to describe an event that did not result in patient harm, but could have. Often, near misses happen multiple times before a harmful incident occurs; in fact, many avoidable deaths have a history of related near misses preceding them. (1) Near misses therefore provide valuable opportunities for proactive learning and improvement.

When prescription medicines are obtained or used illegally, it is known as drug diversion. (1) The impact of drug diversion on healthcare organizations can be devastating in multiple ways—from a financial, operational, and patient outcomes perspective.

Safety in aviation has often been compared to safety in healthcare. (1) This is the result of significant achievements in the field of aviation as it pertains to both safety and quality improvement. Despite the number of worldwide flight hours doubling over the past 20 years, the number of fatalities has fallen from approximately 450 to 250 per year. This stands in comparison to healthcare, where in the United States alone there are an estimated 200,000 preventable medical deaths every year, which amounts to the equivalent of almost three fatal airline crashes per day. (1)