"...a Hospital...should do the sick no harm."

— Florence Nightingale, Notes on Hospitals, 1859

Patient Safety is about:

• Eliminating preventable medical mistakes

• Guarding against the impact of human error

• Establishing hospitalwide systems to safeguard patients' health and well-being.

Baystate Health emphasizes understanding the "why" and "how" events happen, not just on "who" caused a particular error.  The Baystate Health divisions of healthcare quality are responsible for ensuring that Baystate facilities provide the safest treatment possible.  Some of their patient safety initiatives are:

• Taking a leadership role in educating Baystate employees to make patient safety their highest priority and to follow patient safety guidelines in all patient interactions.

• Administering a Safety Reporting System (SRS), a web-based computerized event and near-miss event reporting system.

• Helping patients understand their role in ensuring their own safety.

• Educating patients about available patient safety resources.

• Encouraging patients to use quality and safety data when making health decisions.

Baystate Health has joined other Massachusetts hospitals in subscribing to the "PatientCareLink" Continuing the Commitment to Safe Care" initiative.