A Composite Score Reflecting an Initiative to Reduce Harm, Protect Patients, and Promote Safety

Since 2011, hospitals in the United States have used the Total Harm Rate as a metric to address and enhance patient safety by mitigating harmful events. However, upon evaluation, it was concluded that this tool had lost its validity and was not widely used as an effective measure to prevent harm to patients. There are no similar comparative data in the literature to which we can compare our results with others. The Quality Management Performance Improvement team began to develop a composite safety score that would be used to reflect the environment of patient safety and promote improvement opportunities.