National Patient Safety Foundation

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) was an independent United States nonprofit organization focused on improving the safety of patients, health care professionals, and health care systems. It was created in 1997 following a 1996 conference on medical error convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The founding concept was to bring together the broad health care community to promote leadership, awareness, knowledge creation, and practical implementation in patient safety. NPSF operated primarily as a convening, educational, research-dissemination, and professional-development organization rather than as a commercial product brand. Its work addressed the causes and prevention of medical error, the development of patient-safety methods, engagement of patients and families, and the integration of safety principles into clinical and organizational practice. Early public-opinion research helped demonstrate the visibility and personal impact of medical mistakes: a 2000 survey conducted by Louis Harris & Associates reported that 84 percent of respondents had heard about a medical mistake, while 42 percent said they or someone close to them had experienced such an event. Education was a central part of the foundation's identity. Its annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress brought together health care executives, clinicians, patient-safety specialists, researchers, and patient advocates. Congress programming addressed issues including patient and family participation in care, the use of patient satisfaction as a quality measure, and simulation as a tool for teaching safer practices. NPSF also helped establish patient safety as a specialized professional field. The American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety was formed in 2011 for individuals working in the discipline, and the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety was established in 2012 as an independent body responsible for developing and overseeing a professional credentialing examination. In 2007, NPSF created the Lucian Leape Institute, a patient-safety think tank named after physician and safety advocate Lucian Leape. The institute provided a platform for analysis, expert dialogue, and recommendations on systemic safety challenges. This complemented NPSF's practical education and convening activities by giving the organization a mechanism for examining broader issues in health care delivery. NPSF ceased operating as an independent organization after beginning a formal combination with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in May 2017. The collaboration brought the two organizations together as one organization and transferred NPSF's patient-safety work into IHI's broader improvement platform. Because of that integration, the foundation is best understood today as a historical nonprofit institution and predecessor to continuing patient-safety programs associated with IHI, rather than as a currently independent operating brand.

The National Patient Safety Foundation emerged from growing concern in the United States about medical error and the absence of a sufficiently coordinated national approach to patient safety. In 1996, a major conference on medical error was organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in California. The meeting was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and brought together participants to discuss how the health care community could respond to preventable harm. During the conference, representatives of the American Medical Association described plans for a foundation intended to involve the full health care community in leadership, awareness-building, knowledge creation, dissemination, and implementation related to patient safety. The National Patient Safety Foundation was established in 1997 as an independent not-for-profit organization. It developed a role as a national platform for patient-safety education, professional development, research dissemination, and collaboration. Rather than providing clinical care or selling a conventional product, NPSF worked to strengthen the systems, knowledge, and culture needed to reduce medical mistakes and other avoidable sources of harm. Its activities addressed both patients and health care workers, reflecting a broad view of safety that included organizational conditions, communication, clinical processes, and the involvement of patients and families. One of its early activities was a public-opinion survey on medical safety issues. Conducted by Louis Harris & Associates in 2000, the survey found that 84 percent of respondents had heard about a medical mistake and that 42 percent had personally experienced such an event or knew a friend or relative who had. The findings helped illustrate that medical error was not an abstract professional concern but a matter with substantial public awareness and personal consequences. NPSF made education and professional development a major part of its operating model. Its annual Patient Safety Congress convened health care leaders, patient-safety professionals, clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates. Programs over time examined patient and family engagement, patient satisfaction as a measure of quality, and simulation-based approaches to teaching and reinforcing safe practices. These activities helped position patient safety as a distinct field of knowledge and a potential career path within health care. In 2007, NPSF established the Lucian Leape Institute as a think tank devoted to patient-safety issues. Named for physician and patient-safety leader Lucian Leape, the institute expanded the foundation's capacity for expert analysis and strategic discussion. It addressed patient safety at the level of health care systems and policy, complementing the foundation's conferences and educational programs. The organization also supported the development of professional structures for the emerging discipline. The American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety was formed in January 2011 as an organization for individuals working in patient safety, rather than for institutions. In 2012, the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety was established as an independent body to develop and oversee a credentialing examination for people working in the field. These developments reflected NPSF's broader objective of making patient safety a recognized area of professional expertise. In May 2017, NPSF and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement began working together as one organization. The combination brought NPSF's patient-safety resources, programs, and institutional legacy into IHI. NPSF therefore no longer exists as an independent operating foundation, but its work remains relevant through the patient-safety programs and professional resources continued under IHI's organizational umbrella.

• 2017

  NPSF combines with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  NPSF and IHI begin working together as one organization, ending NPSF's independent operating status.

• 2012

  Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety is established

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  An independent certification body is created to develop and administer a credentialing examination for patient-safety professionals.

• 2011

  American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety is formed

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  A professional organization for individuals working in patient safety is established, supporting the recognition of patient safety as a distinct professional discipline.

• 2007

  Lucian Leape Institute is formed

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  NPSF creates the Lucian Leape Institute as a think tank for expert analysis and strategic work on patient safety.

• 2000

  Public-opinion survey measures awareness of medical mistakes

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  A Louis Harris & Associates survey commissioned in connection with NPSF's early work reported high public awareness of medical mistakes and substantial direct or indirect exposure to medical error.

• 1997

  National Patient Safety Foundation is established

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  NPSF is formed as an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing patient and health care worker safety and disseminating methods to prevent harm.

• 1996

  Medical-error conference establishes the foundation concept

  [1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  A conference organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences examined medical error and generated the proposal for a collaborative patient-safety foundation.

An independent, cross-sector patient-safety nonprofit that connected clinicians, health care leaders, researchers, patients, families, and advocates around the prevention of avoidable harm and the professionalization of patient-safety practice.

• Conference and professional education

  NPSF Patient Safety Congress

  An annual professional meeting that brought together health care leaders, clinicians, patient-safety specialists, researchers, patients, and advocates. Its programming addressed practical and strategic topics such as patient and family engagement, quality measurement, patient satisfaction, and simulation-based education.

• Think tank · 2007

  Lucian Leape Institute

  A think tank created by NPSF to support expert analysis, dialogue, and recommendations on systemic patient-safety challenges. It expanded the foundation's work beyond training and conferences into longer-term strategic examination of health care safety.

• Education and credentialing support

  Patient-safety professional development

  Educational and professional-development activities designed to make patient safety a recognized area of health care expertise. NPSF supported the broader professional infrastructure that included the American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety and the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety.

• 2017

  Combination with the Institute for Healthcare ImprovementM&A

  Background

  NPSF and IHI shared a focus on improving health care quality and safety. In May 2017, the organizations began working together as one organization.

  Action taken

  NPSF integrated its organizational activities and patient-safety work with IHI rather than continuing as an independent foundation.

  Aftermath

  NPSF ceased to operate independently, while its patient-safety resources and legacy continued within IHI's broader improvement platform.

  Source

• 2017

  NPSF and IHI begin working together as one organization[1]National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  The National Patient Safety Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement began operating together as one organization, ending NPSF's independent organizational existence and integrating its patient-safety activities into IHI.

1. 1National Patient Safety Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Institute for Healthcare Improvementihi.org