What are the patient safety reporting systems currently being used by the Veterans Health Administration?
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) currently has two systems in place for reporting medical adverse events and close calls. One system is the internal, confidential and non-punitive Patient Safety Information System. This system was implemented and is run by the VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS). This adverse event and close call reporting and analysis system electronically documents and monitors patient safety information throughout VHA. Using tools developed by NCPS, multidisciplinary teams from VHA facilities conduct thorough root cause analyses of these events. Corrective actions are then planned and implemented and follow up actions are used to determine if the corrective actions implemented are successful. The other reporting system in the VHA is the Patient Safety Reporting System (PSRS). (Please see next question for more detail.
