Post-Pandemic Patient Safety Ratings Still Falling
TL/DR –
Patient safety indicators have not rebounded since the pandemic, according to two new reports. US federal officials aim to return to pre-pandemic safety levels by 2025 and target a further 25% reduction in patient harms by 2030. The reports highlight significant worsening of key patient safety measures during the first two years of the pandemic and challenges in transitioning newly educated physicians and nurses into clinical care, which the ECRI identifies as the top safety concern of 2024.
Patient Safety Drop Amid Pandemic Concerns Federal Officials
As the pandemic continues, federal officials recognize that patient safety metrics have yet to recover, fueled by two new reports expressing concern over a decline in care quality. However, Michelle Schreiber, M.D., director of the CMS Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group, said sure signs of recent improvements in safety metrics are showing during a webinar on March 6.
Revealing her agency’s objective to restore patient safety back to pre-pandemic levels by 2025, Schreiber also presented the new CMS report. The report highlighted a significant deterioration in essential patient safety measures during the pandemic’s first two years, following years of progress.
Simultaneously, nonprofit ECRI announced in a report that the pandemic’s disruption led to the top safety concern of 2024: challenges transitioning newly educated physicians and nurses into clinical care.
Resilience for Patient Safety
In the absence of President Biden’s mention patient safety in his State of the Union address, health officials like Schreiber have been vocal about the administration’s initiatives. She highlighted the need for resilience in healthcare, especially in safety systems, during the upcoming webinar on March 21.
Following the reinstatement of pre-pandemic safety levels, the CMS aims to reduce patient harms by an additional 25% by 2030, aligning with its National Quality Strategy of “zero harm”.
Pivotal Federal Measures
Schreiber revealed several CMS initiatives, including ‘birthing friendly’ hospital designation and patient safety structural measure for assessing factors like governance and patient engagement. Additionally, the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion is shifting to digital quality measures to streamline safety indicator tracking and risk adjustment.
Infection Rates Worsen
New CMS report shows healthcare facilities have struggled to protect patients from infections like bloodstream infection, urinary tract infection, and MRSA during the pandemic. Despite reporting 34,455 fewer cases of these infections from 2015 to 2019, these numbers worsened in 2020 and 2021. The report also indicated that skilled nursing facility fall rates were higher than expected in 2021.
Pandemic Disrupts Clinician Training
ECRI highlights that the pandemic has disrupted traditional educational experiences for new clinicians, alongside healthcare workforce shortages. It calls for efforts to “assess and redesign the environments in which clinicians are trained, onboarded, mentored, and supported.” ECRI lists other top hazards for the year, including workarounds with barcode medication administration systems, barriers to accessing maternal and perinatal care, unintended consequences of technology adoption, and a decline in the wellbeing of healthcare workers.
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