Patient Safety Authority

10/09/2026

The Patient Safety Authority is seeking a Senior Patient Safety Consultant (part-time) to provide assistance with data analysis and development of patient safety activities. Learn more and apply at https://patientsafety.pa.gov/PatientSafetyAuthority/Pages/Job_Openings_Links.aspx

10/08/2026

Just published: In the patient safety trends article published on April 27, 2026, reporting rates for 2025 were calculated based on patient days and surgical encounters from the first half of the year, as those data for Q3 and Q4 were not available as of the article publication date. This brief update provides the final rates for 2025 using all quarters of patient days and surgical encounters data, along with an updated number of reports with event dates in 2025 submitted as of July 29, 2026, and compares them to the 2025 rates presented in the previously published article1 (hereafter referred to as the “preliminary rates”).

Read more:

By Shawn Kepner. In the patient safety trends article published on April 27, 2026, reporting rates for 2025 were calculated based on patient days and surgical encounters from the first half of the...

10/06/2026

Just published: Discover how one Pennsylvania facility strengthened breast milk–handling safety in its NICU after identifying preventable errors. This article reviews recent breast milk–related events reported statewide; outlines risks across collection, storage, and administration; and shares practical strategies hospitals can use to reduce harm. You’ll also learn how this facility sought guidance from the Patient Safety Authority as it implemented targeted improvements to close process gaps and enhance reliability. Explore these insights, lessons learned, and supportive resources designed to help facilities promote safer, more consistent care for infants and their families.

By Christine E. Sanchez, Shirley Dominick. When one Pennsylvania facility discovered breast milk–related errors in its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), its outreach to the Patient Safety Authority prompted a closer look at similar events occurring...

09/25/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲! The application period for our fall Master Class in writing quality improvement studies ends today, Sept. 25, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Learn more and apply now: https://patientsafetyj.com/post/4159-fall-2026-writing-workshop-in-quality-improvement-studies

09/22/2026

⏰ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲’𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁! Applications for our fall Master Class in Writing Quality Improvement Studies are due this 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟱!

💻 This free, two-part writing workshop for healthcare professionals will take place virtually on October 8 and December 19, from 3 to 5 p.m. ET. Participants will learn how to turn their QI project into a publishable manuscript to broadly share their work — no writing experience needed!

👉 Learn more and submit your application today:

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.

09/18/2026

One week left to apply for our fall 2026 writing workshop!

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.

09/17/2026

Today is World Patient Safety Day ( ). The World Health Organization (WHO) has made “Safe care for life!” the slogan for this year, focusing on addressing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs): long-term conditions that cannot spread from person to person—like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease—which often require ongoing, lifelong care.

To help ensure safe care for NCDs, WHO has proposed a set of goals to facilitate action for improvement at the point of care. Health facilities, organizations, healthcare leaders, managers, and practitioners can use these to reduce harm and improve safety for people living with NCDs:

1. Partner with people with lived experience and civil society
2. Strengthen prevention and risk assessment
3. Provide early detection, accurate diagnosis, and integrated management
4. Secure access and safe medication and medical device use
5. Strengthen care coordination, continuity, and transitions of care

Please review and share the following resources and journal articles to join in improving safety for pediatric patients:

World Patient Safety Day 2026 is focused on addressing noncommunicable diseases, which are long-term conditions that cannot spread from person to person, like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

09/16/2026

Falsifying data, fabricating references, peer-reviewing your own manuscript. There’s no shortage of ways that someone can damage the integrity of scientific research. Enter Ivan Oransky, MD, co-founder of Retraction Watch: an online database tracking published manuscripts that have been retracted for myriad reasons. Efforts like Retraction Watch are often some of the first—and last—lines of defense protecting knowledge and truth.

This is international Peer Review Week (September 14–18), an annual...

09/16/2026

This is international Peer Review Week (September 14–18), an annual celebration of the role of peer review in publishing, a process in which experts evaluate manuscripts for both their scientific accuracy and research value in their field. Peer review helps safeguard the quality and integrity of data—and when it comes to medical research, it can even affect patients' lives.

To highlight the importance of peer review, especially in articles relating to healthcare and patient safety, and discuss the challenges facing peer review (including volume, speed, and quality), PATIENT SAFETY interviewed Ivan Oransky, MD, co-founder of RETRACTION WATCH: an online database tracking published manuscripts that have been retracted for myriad reasons. Falsifying data, fabricating references, authors peer-reviewing their own manuscript—they've seen it all. Efforts like RETRACTION WATCH are often some of the first, and last, lines of defense protecting knowledge and truth.

By Ivan Oransky, Caitlyn Allen. Falsifying data, fabricating references, peer-reviewing your own manuscript. There’s no shortage of ways that someone can damage the integrity of scientific research.

09/11/2026

Have you participated in a quality improvement project that impacted patient care?

Don’t forget the next step: Publishing the results of your QI project is an important but often overlooked way to benefit patients beyond the walls of your facility. Sharing your work can help other facilities learn from and replicate it.

Writing an academic article may not be as hard—or take as much time—as you think. Join our free, online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies and we will teach you the skills you need to turn your QI project into a publishable manuscript!

Learn more and apply for the fall session by Friday, September 25, at

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.