Program designed to improve safety and quality in caring for America's children

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization announces an agreement to provide patient safety services to the Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc. ECRI Institute PSO will support the Child Health PSO with a patient safety data collection and reporting system and by analyzing adverse events and other information from participating children's hospitals and health systems.

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"Helping children's hospitals achieve their mission of providing the safest and highest quality of care to America's children is our top priority," says Kate Conrad, vice president, Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc. "We selected ECRI Institute PSO because of their extensive experience in analyzing patient safety data and for their development of practical information to help providers improve the process of delivering care," adds Conrad.

"We commend the Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc., for taking a strong leadership role in improving patient safety through the sharing of data. We look forward to providing the analyses and data to help them learn from and reduce adverse events," says Ronni Solomon, JD, executive vice president and general counsel, ECRI Institute.

The ECRI Institute Patient Safety analytics team, with experience handling more than one million adverse event reports, comprises an interdisciplinary staff of pediatricians,  physicians, nurses, biomedical engineers, and instructional designers; quality, legal, and risk management professionals; individuals with safety, education, science, and engineering backgrounds; statisticians and data analysts, and information technology experts. In addition to the internal program team, the external advisory group includes physicians, lawyers, and senior executives at hospitals and health care associations.

ECRI Institute PSO uses a web-based patient safety reporting system to capture patient safety data in a standardized manner compatible with the common data formats published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and National Quality Forum (NQF) serious reportable events. ECRI Institute PSO supports numerous state-based PSO programs as well as hospitals, health systems, and other provider organizations nationwide. 

For information about the ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization, visit pso.ecri.org, e-mail pso@ecri.org, call (610) 825-6000, ext. 5389, or write to us at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

About the Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc.

The Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc. (CHPSO) was listed as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) and certified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) in May 2009. CHPSO is a subsidiary of the Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA). The goal of the CHPSO is for every pediatric provider to join CHPSO in order to preserve the privilege of conducting self-improvement and network with other facilities to improve the quality of pediatric health care. Established in 1985 and headquartered in Shawnee Mission, KS, CHCA is owned and operated by 43 non-competing, freestanding children's hospitals that share data, knowledge and buying power to reduce costs and improve clinical and operational performance in children's hospitals. CHCA Owner Hospitals perform better together, ultimately advancing the quality of care available to America's children. On April 1, 2011, CHCA, the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and the National Association of Children's Hospitals (N.A.C.H.) announced their merger into a single organization governed by a common board of trustees and the alignment of organizational capabilities to support common goals. For more information, visit http://www.chca.com/index_flash.html.

About ECRI Institute 

For 43 years, ECRI Institute's work in patient safety, adverse event reporting and analysis, and development of recommendations has improved patient care at hospitals and other providers around the world. The ECRI Institute PSO—Patient Safety Organization—is a component of ECRI Institute, a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. ECRI Institute has a long history of investigating events and publishing authoritative risk reduction strategies. ECRI Institute is designated as an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a Collaborating Center for Patient Safety, Risk Management and Healthcare Technology by the World Health Organization. ECRI Institute  developed and implements the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System, a mandatory error and near-miss reporting program for Pennsylvania hospitals and other health care facilities, under contract to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, winner of the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Award. For more information, visit https://www.ecri.org. 

SOURCE ECRI Institute