Hospital Patient Safety Annual Goals

Introduction of the Annual Patient Safety Goal

In order to contrive a consensus among the local medical fields towards the promotion of patient safety, and employ the most effective use of the limited medical resources, "Patient Safety Committee" of the Department of Health corresponded to the government’s strategies and carefully reviewed the practical and implementation needs of hospitals. Joint Commission of Taiwan invited clinical experts of patient safety to formulate national patient safety goals, strategies, principles and referential practices that are adopted from the annual goals and practices of the American JCAHO ( Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations ) for the use and reference of the related medical affairs .

The principles for setting the goals are considered upon 5 aspects: (1) Universality : The formulation of goals and strategies is based on the common situations encountered by most medical institutes, instead of merely those in large-scaled hospitals. (2) Accessibility : While setting the goals and strategies, the costs of hospitals should not be affected. The hospitals are expected to implement the suggested practices in their daily work. (3) Phased: The goals are assessed every year, and the improvement of each goal is reviewed. Principally, the goals are revised once every two years according to the practical situation of implementation. (4) Concentration : The hospitals and medical organizations should review the characteristics of the goals and implement what are best-suited. They are not required to achieve all the listed goals, but to strengthen the goals that need to be improved. (5) Systematic: The improvement practices of hospitals are not limited to a single medical or administrative department. Only the adoption of systematic practices can patient safety be effectively improved.

The quality of medical service is based on "Patient safety" which is the commonest goal for healthcare providers and patients. The proposal of patient safety goals elucidates government’s determination in providing our people with safety medical care. It is expected that medical experts and the public can work together to promote the healthcare quality in Taiwan as well as building a safety medical environment.